Build Your Future, Be Smart About Money
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe (SECZim) joined the rest of the world in commemorating the Global Money Week (GMW) from 21-27 January 2022.
Global Money Week is an annual financial awareness campaign targeted at young people. To date, it has had an impact on more than 153 million people globally.
Every year since 2012, the slogan for GMW is, ‘Learn. Save. Earn.’ This year, the campaign is centred around the theme, ‘ Build Your Future. Be Smart About Money.’
To commemorate this campaign, SECZim held a variety of activities in partnership with other financial sector regulators like the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ); Securities Market Intermediaries like the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) and Escrow Group through C-Trade also participated. The activities were set to help young people gain financial understanding and appreciation of investing and to also make sound decisions whilst achieving financial well-being and financial resilience.
Ahead of GMW and by way of preparation, the RBZ hosted a virtual Financial Literacy Roundtable on 21 March and SECZim got to participate in the session by making a presentation on Consumer Policies.
During GMW, the Commission rolled out its programme including the basics of investment, investor protection through Investor Education sharing educational material which the Commission developed with stakeholders in mind.
Dominican Convent School participated in the Commission’s GMW activities including a workshop and regulator visits on 22 and 24 March respectively.
“You can start small with the little that you have. Age does not have to restrict you, as young as you are, you can become investors. The parable of the talents in the bible is the greatest summary about investing. Be wise and start investing,” urged SECZim’s Acting CEO , Mr Gerald Dzangare to the Dominican Convent School pupils.
On 23 and 25 March, SECZim ran workshops at the Harare Institute of Technology (H.I.T) and the University of Zimbabwe (U.Z) as part of its mandate to deepen financial inclusion through outreach to the youths, educating them about investing and its importance. Students at these institutions showed keen interest in this exercise to learn more about earning and saving.
To motivate and incentivise students, an essay competition is being run on various social media platforms with the topic of this year’s theme.
“Thank you so much for calling us here. It felt great learning about investments and from today I believe we will make wiser choices with the little money that we get as pocket money,” commented one of the students from Dominican Convent School.
Zimbabwe has a total population of around 15.2 million, 67% of which comprises of the youth of poverty, drug abuse, teenage pregnancies and social agitation, it is imperative and urgent for the youths to be taught about financial literacy.
“Money matters matter,” emphasised Mr Robson Mutangadura, the Director of Actuarial Sciences at the University of Zimbabwe.
The Q&A sessions that were held during the GMW paved way for the participants who were quick to raise their hands and successfully answer the questions to receive T-shirts, caps, pens and flashsticks.
