Barclays on financial literacy campaign

| Friday September 17, 2010 00:00

This training helps disadvantaged people improve their financial literacy and money management skills thus empowering them to make informed decisions.

The bank's staff members in Gaborone, Jwaneng, Selebi-Phikwe and Serowe held training sessions for different groups around the country amongst them street vendors, hawkers, public transport drivers and micro-traders and shared with them different aspects of money management.

The commemoration is part of the on-going financial literacy campaign that the bank launched in March0. The training covers topics such as budgeting, savings, types of loans, future financial needs and the difference between wants and needs, amongst other things.

Commenting on the progress of the campaign so far, Wilfred Mpai, the Acting Managing Director of Barclays Bank of Botswana said, 'Money management is a critical life skill and we are glad to be partnering with the community to impart this skill to them especially in our consumer driven society.'

Some of the organisations that have already benefited from this campaign include; Kgetsi ya Tsie (KYT) which is a unique organisation that promotes entrepreneurship amongst women in the Tswapong Hills, an area that is well known for its unique environment features. KYT, as it is popularly known, engages women in twenty-six villages who are utilising their natural environment to produce environmentally-friendly products; Basket Weavers from Etsha village in the north; care givers of HIV-positive children at Baylor's Paediatric Clinic of Excellence, Motswedi and Kopong Junior Schools and young artists at Thapong Visual Arts Centre.

The financial literacy training is aligned with Barclays Community Investment Strategy under the Banking on Brighter Futures theme which focuses on financial inclusion and education, creation of employment and entrepreneurship.