Financial literacy drive launch today

For the next five years, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning will spearhead a campaign to educate Rwandans about the importance of managing their finances well.The campaign, known as the National Financial Education Strategy, will be launched today in Kigali and will be mainly conducted through seminars, lectures, conferences and public debates.It follows a cabinet decision on September 11 that approved the Second Financial Sector Development Programme (FSDPII) that seeks to develop a stable financial sector.“This will be a countrywide campaign. One of the programmes will target school going children and youth. We intend to work with the Ministry of Education and the Rwanda Education Board to incorporate an important element of financial education in school curricula,” Eric Rwigamba, the director-general of financial sector at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, said.Through a financial literacy campaign targeting students, by the Association of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda (AMIR), 210,337 savings accounts, worth Rwf61.9 million, were opened by the young savers in the past three years.“In order to tackle poverty, Rwandans of all walks of life must learn how to manage their day-to-day cash flows and have knowledge on issues such as why save, how to save, when to borrow, how to manage credit and the risks of too much borrowing and the importance of making a budget,” Rwigamba added.Only 42 per cent of adults above 18 years use formal financial institutions such as banks, microfinance institutions and Saccos to save or access financial services, whereas 37 per cent belong to informal savings groups, according to Finscope Rwanda 2013, conducted by Access to Finance Rwanda.The figures are still low, according to the Finance ministry and this is because of lack of awareness of how individual financial discipline can improve welfare.Informal savings groupsAccording to Global Communities, an NGO promoting savings culture in the country, the informal savings groups have acted as a foundation for low income earners in rural areas, particularly those who have no access to formal financial services.“Many people are in savings groups and it is helping them to meet their needs and to borrow from each other at low cost. What we need to do is to encourage them to slowly graduate to the formal sector where they can access better services,” said Waringa Kibe, the rural finance and marketing advisor of Global Communities.Rwigamba reckoned that many people do not know how to access formal financial services, whereas others just don’t have the saving discipline in them.“This is a big challenge that involves behavioral change. We will work with several ministries and private partners to target every category, including farmers, low income earners, youth and women,” he said.One of the partners in the National Financial Education strategy, Access to Finance Rwanda, is of the view that uptake of formal financial services is hindered by lack of knowledge and, therefore, many people risk lives to be caught inside a vicious cycle of debt and poverty.“Saving for the future, planning and budgeting is good for all people including the young and old. Some services like mobile banking are convenient and can save an individual a lot of costs and risks involved in transporting money,” Ivan Murenzi, the survey coordinator and analyst at Access to Finance Rwanda, said.“Such services have a huge impact on the welfare of individuals and people all over the country must get information about them,” he added.Through this campaign, government targets to increase the number of Rwandans served by formal financial services from 42 per cent to 80 per cent by 2017.