WNR: BoG educates market women, traders on financial management

The Bank of Ghana has launched a financial literacy campaign, targeting informal sector workers including traders, mechanics, and drivers in Sefwi Wiawso and Juaboso, Western North Region. The one-day session aimed to educate participants on managing their finances effectively. The Bank's initiative is part of its broader strategy to promote financial inclusion and enhance public financial literacy by educating them on key banking concepts and responsible financial practices.

Attendees included taxi drivers, mechanics, traders, carpenters, and other informal sector stakeholders. The program covered a range of topics, from responsible savings and investment, to identifying licensed financial institutions, safeguarding personal banking information, recognizing fraudulent schemes, understanding complaint resolution processes, and protecting the security features of genuine banknotes.

Traders and mechanics received specialized training to boost their financial literacy, aiding their personal and professional transactions. Mr Albert Fynn, from the Bank's Financial Stability Department, emphasized the program's role in the Bank's overall financial education strategy, which aims to empower citizens to make informed financial decisions. He highlighted the Bank's past efforts to educate the public via television, radio, and direct engagements with market women and other groups.

The training emphasized the rights and responsibilities of customers at regulated financial institutions, the importance of securing banking credentials like passwords and PINs, and the steps for lodging complaints with financial service providers. Officials also discussed dormant accounts and unclaimed balances, stressing that regular account activity can prevent accounts from becoming dormant.

Presentations shed light on loan guarantees, illegal digital lending services, responsible borrowing, including mobile money loans, and the repercussions of loan defaults on future credit access. Mr Fynn urged the public to treat the Ghana cedi coin as legal tender for all transactions, emphasizing that it should be accepted and issued for goods and services.