09 Oct 2022

Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) intends to promote financial literacy in an effort to lay a foundation for pupils.

BSE market development specialist, Mr Kgotla Segwe, told a panel discussion dubbed: State of Financial Literacy in Botswana that one of the organisations’ strategic initiatives was to improve financial literacy through effective dissemination of information and education on capital markets.

“Financial education and inclusion has become a matter of great importance. From a social welfare perspective, it matters greatly whether or not people are able to manage their financial affairs wisely and live within their means,” he said in Gaborone on Thursday.

Mr Segwe said being financially literate not only helped an individual, but also reduced the burden on government of having to bear the financial needs of its citizens.

He thus said a strategic focus on the youth in respect of promoting financial literacy was of outmost importance.

In an effort to improve financial education and inclusion, Mr Segwe said BSE would help create awareness amongst senior secondary pupils, adding the initiative was expected to promote a culture of investing.

Contributing to the discussion, Naledi Secondary School pupil, Kevin Nzala, highlighted the importance of financial literacy education in schools, saying it would instil a sound framework for making sensible financial decisions that would remain with pupils for the rest of their lives.

Financial literacy classes teach the basics of money management such as budgeting, saving, debt, investing and giving, he said.

That knowledge would help lay foundation for pupils to build strong money habits early and avoid many of the mistakes that lead to lifelong money struggles, he noted.

St Joseph’s College pupil, Katlego Nthompe, urged her counterparts to take the initiative to self-educate and grow their financial knowledge by beginning with the basics of money management to mature into smart spenders.

“Putting time into your financial development improves saving and investing decisions, by leveraging resources like age, talent, money and the ability to establish good habits you can build a long lasting nest egg,” she said. The BSE used the October bell ringing ceremony to join the global community in acknowledging World Investor Week 2022, which is a week-long global campaign to raise awareness about the importance of investor education and protection.

This year, for the fourth year in a row, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) are working in partnership on the ‘Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy’ campaign. BOPA