Some financial experts are calling on the education ministry to include financial literacy as a core subject in Ghana’s educational curriculum.  

They believe limited information on investments and other financial subjects is contributing to the over 40% of Ghanaian youth losing their resources to gambling, particularly sports betting.  

Programmes Coordinator for the Ghana Youth Investment programme, Joshua Mensah says the easy access to gambling information whips up the interest of the youth into money-exhausting ventures than long-term investments.

Speaking at the Ashanti Regional Edition of the Youth Investment Educational Tour, Joshua Mensah cautioned against a looming economic crisis if the youth fail to invest their resources appropriately.

“If the youth don’t invest the right way, there’s going to be a disaster. Investment forms the backbone of economies in the world. The youth are now deep into gambling. There’s more information about betting, unlike investments. The minister must include financial literacy in the curriculum,” he said.

The Youth Investment Education Tour brought together both tertiary and secondary school students for financial experience in investments. 

The summit is aimed at promoting interest in savings and investment amongst the youth, thus boosting financial literacy.

It expects to create awareness about the Capital Market and career guidance. 

“So far the project has impacted more than 5,000 students. In the Ashanti region, we had the chance to speak with some students numbering over 2,000 at second-cycle institutions,” Joshua Mensah said.

Hafiz Aziz- Stocks Expert, Data Bank

Stock Expert at DataBank, Hafiz Aziz is advising the youth to make long-term investments. 

“As youth, they have more time ahead. So when they’re investing in stocks or shares, it must be a long-term decision. Investing in stocks is the way forward. However, thorough research must be conducted into where one is investing their monies,” he said.

Since its inception four years ago, the yearly summit had impacted over 5,000 students. Some attendees of this year’s edition spoke about the benefits of the programme. 

“This summit has helped me understand when and where to invest my monies or resources appropriately. The resource persons made us understand we need to start investing now with the little we have, and it will definitely yield something good in the future for us,” an attendee said.  

A Stock Pitch Competition for tertiary students and Capital Market Quiz for Senior High Schools have been planned to increase knowledge on savings and investment, activities on the capital market and entrepreneurship.