The Managing Director of Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), Ekow Afedzie, has noted that Ghanaians need financial literacy during times like this when scammers and Ponzi schemes are all over the country.

Mr. Afedzie, thus, assured that the exchange is committed to financial literacy and it has been so since it was first established. He noted that although the ‘ring the bell’ for financial literacy advocacy has been going on for the past six years globally, this is the first time the GSE is taking part.

The Managing Director assured the public that going forward, the GSE would continue to participate in this global event each year.

“As an exchange, we will continue to do it because it will have a great impact on the development of the capital market. Without investments, there is no way the country can develop and without savings, there is no way people can invest.

“Financial literacy is, therefore, very important at this time, especially at a time when investors are having challenges and don’t know what to do.”
Ekow Afedzie

As part of activities to mark World Investor Week, the GSE joined over 80 stock exchanges across the world to mark the occasion.

This will see the GSE, together with the Central Securities Depository (CSD), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and market players educate the public and investors on the investment opportunities available to them and also raise awareness about the importance of investor education and protection.

The Deputy Managing Director of the GSE, Abena Amoah, on her part, iterated that financial literacy has become more important than ever to help investors navigate the challenges and uncertainties surrounding investment options.

Abena Amoah stated that the theme for the World Investor Week, ‘Building investor resilience’ was very relevant, considering the current economic challenges confronting the world and the uncertainties in the investor space.

Goals that Underpin Financial Literacy and Financial Education

The Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, outlined some goals that would underpin financial literacy and financial education campaigns in the country.

Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey noted that to create a pool of resilient investors, financial literacy campaigns must have an overarching goal of producing responsible and informed investors.

“People must be responsible for the decisions they take. We need to get to a point where we have investors that are responsible and informed and are responsible for planning their finances and investment decisions. We need to educate people on the need to plan and the need to follow the plan and not the crowd.”
Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh

The Director General also pointed out that a good financial education campaign must be aimed at creating investors who are knowledgeable about the risk-return characteristics of various products.

“We have people who do not appreciate this and you sometimes get investors asking you what is the best return, forgetting that the returns were based on the risks.”
Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh

Rev. Ogbarmey Tetteh stressed that the campaigns must also have the goal of producing investors who are responsible for conducting some minimum due diligence about the products they are signing on to and the service providers.

“People many times just follow the word of mouth and invest but it is necessary to do your checks to find out if the providers are even licensed.”
Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh