The Chief Investment Officer at Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC), Mr. Emmanuel Owusu, has stated that financial literacy is important for businesses to provide financial solution to investors.
He said this in an interview with the B&FT after the official launch of ‘The improving Financial Awareness and Financial Literacy Movement in Ghana’ at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS).
According to him, the financial sector is a knowledge-driven one – hence the need for financial literacy.
“The nature of work we do is knowledge-driven and we cannot provide comprehensive financial solutions to prospective investors without providing financial education, these two are intertwined,” he stated.
Mr. Owusu said many people misinterpret financial literacy by equating formal education to it.
He explained that many people have received the best of formal education but are financially illiterate.
He added that simple risk assessment questions which were posed to investors showed a chunk of them had a low level or no knowledge about investment.
“It’s a simple risk assessment question that we do for investors, and you will notice that quite a chunk of them had a low level or no knowledge of investment. It buttresses the point that there is a lot of work to be done in order to expand the knowledge base of people when it comes to financial education,” he noted.
He concluded with a pledge that EDC is strongly embarking on the same agenda, as they have instituted a savings, investment and financial independence conference as a way of increasing financial awareness, which is scheduled for 14 April 2021.
