Ecobank Ghana has celebrated its annual Ecobank Day, which was themed ‘Leave No One Behind! Financial Inclusion for All’.
Ecobank Day is a Pan-African initiative supported by the Ecobank Foundation, whereby the company and its staff give back to society.
This year’s celebration concentrated on promoting financial inclusion and financial literacy, especially among women and youth in the local communities.
Addressing the audience, Mr. Dan Sackey – Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana, stated that the company has realised financial literacy and inclusion are life-changing matters and therefore need to be treated with urgency.
“Financial literacy is the ability to use one’s knowledge and skills to effectively manage financial resources, ideally for a lifetime of financial well-being. It is achieved through education, reading relevant information and training,” he explained.
“The challenge at hand is enormous, as it is estimated that 68 percent of sub-Saharan Africans are not financially literate,” he added.
He revealed that 62 percent of the unbanked live in rural areas; 45 percent of the unbanked are young adults aged 15 to 24; and 74% of the unbanked have, at most, primary education.
As a contribution to reducing these statistics, Ecobank Ghana held 4 simultaneous events in Accra, Tamale, Kumasi and Takoradi.
Mr. Sackey however cautioned all customers to remain vigilant and not fall prey to the activities of fraudsters, advising that customers should never give out any sensitive information relating to their bank accounts, debit or credit cards, OTP or PIN.
Participants in Accra were from different backgrounds, which included members of various seamstress associations operating from all local communities.
Ecobank presented 50 sewing machines to vulnerable individuals identified in each location.
The ceremony was also held to educate the public on various programmes the bank offers, and to clear the mythology that only those with huge incomes can have access to the bank.
Mrs. Laureta Sarpong, Head of Women’s desk, took her turn to explain ‘Elevate by Ecobank’, saying it is a programme set up by the bank for every female trader and which provides financial support after an account is opened.
Mr. Henry Boye, Head of Youth and Banking, addressing the audience revealed that the Complementary Education Agency – another partner for the ceremony – will use presentation materials for the programme to enact a play, which will be recorded, edited and circulated in all regions to be used for continuous financial literacy education all year round.
In an interview with Gertrude Owusu, a petty trader, she indicated that even though she knows about Ecobank, she always thought it was only open to traders with bigger shops and huge incomes who could save with Ecobank – until she was educated on other saving options the bank provides.
