Gift James
In a bid to scale up the financial management and business skills of Nigerian youths, QNET, a global e-commerce company has, in partnership with Transblue Ltd., committed to training 600 youths under its FinGreen programme.
The FinGreen Financial Literacy Initiative is designed to develop financial literacy activities for underserved communities and empower individuals to take charge of their future through the three fundamental pillars of assessment, training, and advocacy.
According to a World Bank report, financial literacy is an essential life skill, and the lack of financial education is a global issue affecting individuals, communities, and economies. It is estimated that 1.7 billion adults worldwide do not have access to basic financial services, and only 30 percent of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa have a bank account. The United Nations has also emphasised the need to support the youth in developing countries by providing financial education and opportunities to improve their economic situation.
The firm explained that the program aims to empower the youth in financial management through education and training. During the pilot phase launched in July 2022, 20 youth leaders received training as peer-to-peer trainers. Fourteen of the participants then trained 572 youths within their communities in the southwest region of Nigeria, specifically in Ikeja, Ikorodu, Ogun, and Oyo states.
The program aims to educate communities on financial literacy from the ground up, adopting a peer-to-peer model to ensure sustainability and enhanced reach. The pilot cohort has gained basic financial management skills and knowledge necessary to become trainers and champions of financial literacy in their communities and among their peers.
According to Biram Fall, the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional General Manager for QNET, “Developing financial knowledge, skills and habits are important factors in young people’s path to independence and inclusion. Our FinGreen program aims to increase financial inclusion for the youth and support overall economic growth and development.”
The training enabled QNET to address identified gaps among youths with regards to making sound financial decisions. The program aligns with the United Nations SDG’s and the Addis Ababa Agenda to provide adequate skills and proper developmental training for all, particularly for youth, women and those aspiring to be entrepreneurs. As part of the training, participants were taught fundamental financial skills such as investment, savings, budgeting, use of credit and debit cards, and how to identify fraudulent financial activities, aiding them to organise and manage their finances more efficiently.
Of the 572 beneficiaries trained by the 14 FinGreen ambassadors, less than 50 percent recognised the importance of savings, budgeting and employability skills before the training.
Upon completing the pilot phase, the program aims to fully roll out in four of Nigeria’s geopolitical regions by April 2023.
