TD Markets, a South African global award-winner and multi-regulated broker, as part of its vision to equip budding youth on the African continent with digital trading skills has collaborated with Women in Forex Ghana to embark on a digital-finance programme (DFP) to empower about 600 students in the country.
TD Markets intends to equip these 600 undergraduates with practical trading skills on the capital market, and create awareness of the need to indulge and explore career and financial paths in forex trading.
For the purposes of targetting and implementation, five public universities dotted across the country – namely Koforidua, Kumasi and Accra Technical Universities, the University of Cape Coast and University of Ghana – have been selected to benefit from this programme.
The capital market, especially the foreign exchange (FX) market, is the most liquid market on earth. The global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the forex market in 2019 amounted to roughly US$142trillion – with the entire worth of the market standing at US$2.4quadrillion with over 170 currencies being traded, as reported by the Bank of International Settlement.
The IMARC group predicts a compound annual growth rate of six percent for the forex industry in the next five years.
Ambassador of TD Markets in Ghana and Founder of Women in Forex, Gifty Annor-Sika Asantewah, mentioned that the industry is green in Africa – especially Ghana, which is more reason why there is a need for training to bridge the educational and capacity gap in the hope of future career opportunities for African youth.
TD-Markets has made its mark in the African financial industry with its excellent operations in the last decades, and is poised to invest in youth mentorship and training in the Forex industry.
“The goal of this training programme is to adequately equip the youth with a skill set that is relevant in this pandemic era for a better livelihood; gear the youth toward productive online engagements and reduce cybercrime; and help government’s policy to reduce unemployment,” she said.
Women in Forex Ghana
The Women in Forex, under its initiative the ‘Elevate Ghana Forex Project’, has trained and mentored 1,000 youth in digital finance annually since the project launched in 2021 as part of the project’s mission to train over 10,000 youth across the regions by 2030.
The initiative is to advocate the need for exploration of the digital finance industry through training and mentorship, enlightening the youth of enormous financial and career opportunities in the industry and equipping them with the needed skills to engage.
The population of sub-Saharan Africa is projected to double by 2050, and currently 60 percent of the population is under the age of 25 – making Africa the world’s youngest continent.
This burgeoning youth population is both an opportunity and a challenge for the continent. Internet, digital penetration and engagements of African youth increased from 24.4 percent in 2018 to 90 percent in 2020 as indicated by ITU Digital World (Child Online Protection Organization); but most of the activities practiced online by the youth are not very productive, even though great career and financial opportunities abound online.
Such a high number of young people is an opportunity for the continent’s growth, but only if these new generations are fully empowered and trained to realise their best potential.
The two parties believe it is important that the youth are included in decision-making and given appreciated opportunities for work, training and to innovate.
