To help individuals and businesses access the right quality financial information and advice to make better financial decisions against money wastage or investing wrongly, the African Observations mobile app (AO App) has been launched to provide real-time assistance.
According to Bethniel Financial Technology, developers of the app, starting with Ghana the AO App is seeking to solve the problem of low financial literacy in Africa – which is reported to be below 45 percent.
Product Manager of Bethniel Financial Technology, Norbert Dziwornu, during the app launch stated that African Observations is a mobile app that helps Africans, especially Ghanaians, make better and more informed financial decisions by way of providing relevant financial information, transformative financial education, and engaging financial advice.
“Making better and more informed financial decisions is the goal of everyone, especially if you are constrained by financial resources. You don’t want to waste your money or investment on something that doesn’t yield the best possible returns. Most people in Ghana and Africa at large are unable to make better financial decisions, simply because they do not have access to quality financial information, education and advice.
“By this, the app is tackling the root problem of low financial literacy levels in Ghana and Africa at large. The African Observations app is currently available on the Google play store after it was first launched on May 28, 2021,” he said.
He further spoke about the relevance of relying on information in making decisions, and about how the AO App helps with that. He gave an example by narrating how in recent times people have just jumped to invest in crypto currencies without really understanding how the market works, only to end up losing huge sums of money.
On his part, Phillip Twum – a Chartered Accountant and Technology consultant, made mention of how financial advice is needed in this ever-changing world driven by data. He spoke about how people can leverage on advice rather than hear-say to invest so as to protect their money.
The African Observations App is multi-faceted: everyone can have information from the app to help them make better and more informed financial decisions. The app is organised into Markets, Advice, Media, Monthly Observations, and Rewards.
The Markets section gives users information about different financial markets and products such as Mutual Funds, Fixed Income, Currencies, etc. The Advice section allows users to gain advice from experts as well as experiences and opinions from other app users, while the Media section gives users insightful financial content in the form of podcast shows, videos, webinars, news and blog articles for now.
The Monthly Observations give a snapshot of financial markets and investment tips on a monthly basis, while the Rewards section incentivises users toward financial excellence by giving points which can later be converted to cash.
Edward Akani, Co-founder of Bethniel Financial Technology, mentioned that the app has already been tested by over 100 people, and the team is currently working to build it further as the feedback received has been promising. He encouraged everyone to get the app from the Google Play Store to help them make better and more informed financial decisions. He added that the app will be available on iOS for Apple users before the end of July.
