Sparkassenstiftung, AFAWI Train Market Women In Financial Literacy

A five day financial training has been organized for some 50 industrious market women to increase their awareness and be abreast with the importance of savings as part of this year's 'World Savings Day'.

The theme for the celebration of this year's World Savings Day: Secure your future with your savings – Sie Sika na 3nhw3 wo Daakye.

German organization Sparkassenstiftung and Alliance for African Women Initiative (AFAWI) with its partners organized the training for the market women from selected markets within the Greater Accra region.

The participants were taken through a 3-day Micro-business Games Training and 2-days Savings Game Training giving a total of 5-days.

According to organizers, the objective is to assist market women to gain basic business skills, understand the factors that influence business success and to understand the purpose and benefits of managing personal and family budgets as well as savings.

The simulations offered participants a risk-free environment in adopting innovative means of doing things. The simulations’ main targets are to teach people to identify problem causes and to analyse correlations.

Peter Scheussler, Senior Consultant for Sparkassestiftung in an interview said, the training is to help women, to help themselves because the act of saving empowers people to improve their welfare and are able to make better future plans.

He said, planning ahead and knowing expenses enables one to save adequately and implement future programmes, hence the training.

Executive Director for AFAWI, Mr. Phillip Kwesi Adjei urged women especially, to be mindful of expenses for funerals and outdoor events that drain their coffers but adds little to their development.

According to him, COVID-19 has exposed the world to numerous factors including the essence of money savings, which gives support to unforseen future occurrences.

The world saving day was first introduced in Italy on October 31, 1924 during the first International Savings Banks Congress. The resolution was to promote savings culture as it is relevant to the individual and the economy. The world savings day (WSD) is celebrated worldwide especially in Germany and European countries.

The Sparkassenstiftung für Internationale Kooperation is the development-policy arm of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe. It focuses on six main thematic priority areas designed to foster financial inclusion. These are capacity development, financial literacy, rural finance, green finance, MSME finance and institution building.

Alliance for African Women Initiative (AFAWI) however, is a grassroots Ghanaian organisation, that has been striving to narrow the gender gap and empower women and children in Ghana for over ten years. It focuses on sustainable development and that, working towards ensuring it projects to become self-sufficient for decades to come.