BSE takes stock market awareness campaign to schools
Isaac Pinielo | Thursday May 11, 2017 14:34
She was speaking to Mmegi Business in an interview about an exercise the BSE is conducting to tackle issues of financial literacy and to raise awareness about capital markets.
It will be the first time that the BSE will be joining hands with school clubs to educate the student communities about the stock market. “The exercise aims to sensitise and educate the youth about the importance of investing, with primary focus on the stock market,” Moribame said.
She noted that this will develop young people who are knowledgeable about stock market issues and are able to disseminate it to their peers.
According to Moribame, stock market knowledge is gaining momentum to the ordinary Motswana, as such financial literacy is important looking at the benefits that accrue to the various participants.
She added that what the BSE is promoting is not only for the youth to invest into the companies that are listed on the exchange, but for youth-owned companies to list the various securities on the exchange. “The expectation is to educate the youth and build a culture of investing in the stock market by having more young people invest in the BSE-listed securities and also more youth-owned companies to view the stock exchange as a viable option to raise capital,” she said.
She said existing trends continue to demonstrate that the low youth participation in the stock market has been solely hinged on a lack of knowledge and comprehension to navigate through the ever-changing financial environment.
Therefore, she believes collaboration with the school clubs will assist in bridging the gap that exists between the youth and the exchange, with the long-term view of cultivating a culture of investing to increase the overall participation of retail investors.
“Ultimately through the exchange the youth have access to capital to drive expansion, employment and overall contribution to the economy and generate wealth,” Moribame said.
She said the exercise has already commenced as the BSE has issued out an expression of interest to tertiary schools clubs to express interest in working with the BSE.
“This project will be carried out this financial year and looking at the impact then we may extend it to the next financial year,” she said.
She added that the budget allocated to this project will largely depend on the proposed projects and their viability, adding however that the existing BSE market development budget will fund the activity.