THE temptation was to write about a host of measures announced by Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa when he presented his Mid-Term Review Statement on Thursday last week.
Obviously, most of the measures announced in the statement will squeeze a bit of cash from the pockets of many people.
However, the assumption is that such are extraordinary measures needed to address extraordinary situations.
If the measures can bring the relief the country needs to go forward then let us support them and see where they will take us.
It is no use wasting time complaining about something which is already upon us but instead we must summon the energy to move forward and see how we can ride the challenges and grow the economy.
That is why this week the focus of this column will be on how Zimbabweans can improve their financial literacy so that they can improve their businesses whether small or big.
The article was provided by the Zimbabwe Shareholders Association, a group of shareholders who are ready to share how other Zimbabweans can claim stakes in companies by understanding the modalities and language of the domain.
Below is the article:
Zimbabwe is proud to be ranked among the best when it comes to literacy levels. (Literacy rate could simply be defined as a measure of how many individuals in a country can read and write). The last research carried out in Africa in 2010 rated Zimbabwe at about 91 percent — a clear testimony of our good education system over the years.
Given the high literacy levels, how does the ordinary Zimbabwean fare when it comes to financial literacy? Financial literacy could be defined as the ability to make appropriate decisions in managing one’s personal finance.
Important as this subject is, it is sad that very few Zimbabweans are enlightened about financial literacy and even more tragic is the fact that there is very little done in schools and tertiary institutions to equip learners with this very important subject.
It is sad to see that this country has produced graduates and a working class that have no idea whatsoever of how to effectively prepare a simple budget of their income and expenditure.
It is very disheartening to see some otherwise competent individuals that are distraught by personal financial problems. There are a number of people that daily seem not to have any idea on how to spend their hard-earned salary and as a result live beyond their means.
The cost of living is generally high given the people’s incomes, but at the same time there are many opportunities that we miss because we have not been taught the importance of understanding financial literacy.
People today are prepared to buy a lotto ticket hoping to get rich quickly than to invest the same amount of money to learn and acquire skills to manage their finances better.
A good education is a great investment to help us ultimately get that dream job to earn good money.
But the tragedy in some cases is that even with a well-paying job, the failure to acquire the skills and knowledge to manage our personal finances could mean that we are destined to make the wrong financial choices.
The result is that we are unable to save for our retirement, for that dream house or even save to send our children to university.
The sad truth is that we are a country of “Financial Illiterates” who have been taught how to earn a dollar but not what to do with it after we have earned it.
As a nation we need to start eradicating the financial illiteracy prevalent in all ages and income levels in our society today.
The education system should be revisited to address the issue of financial illiteracy and Zimbabweans need to be encouraged to acquire the financial skills and knowledge to make adequate financial decisions.
This way, we will achieve economic independence through proper financial management and help reduce poverty, Government welfare problems and have a truly empowered people.
Steps to be taken by Zimbabwe Shareholders Association to address the Financial Illiteracy challenge include, but are not limited to the following:
- The biggest challenge is to mainstream financial literacy into the school system. Very little, if at all anything, is being done at school level, both primary and secondary, to equip learners with the necessary skills and knowledge to make informed financial choices in their lives. The habit of saving and budgeting needs to start early in life. The association will address this challenge through investment clubs in schools.
- The association will make concerted efforts to run regular seminars and road shows that can inform and equip the ordinary citizens about their responsibility to make the right financial choices.
- There is already some good work being done in the area of financial literacy by organisations such as the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the association plans to partner with such like-minded organisations to play a meaningful role of equipping Zimbabweans to become more financially literate.
- There is a need to develop some home-grown concepts on financial literacy in areas such as games, puzzles, comic books, so that the information is readily available to all ages. We look forward to partnering local universities for this initiative.
- Empowering consumers to take action to improve their financial well-being is the association’s ultimate goal. Financial literacy is about being comfortable to make the right financial decisions backed by the necessary skills and knowledge. Ultimately the expected outcome or result is a difference in our behaviour with our finances in areas such as saving, budgeting and use of credit. The saying “you do not know, what you do not know” — especially when it comes to managing our finances is so true. The association will also engage with corporate organisations to enable it to conduct workplace financial education so as to equip their workforce to make better financial choices and decisions.
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