Uchechukwu Nnaike
As part of activities marking this year’s Financial Literacy Day, 9 Payment Service Bank (9PSB) has organised a school mentoring campaign simultaneously at three different locations – Ajao Estate Senior Grammar School, Isolo, Lagos; Wuse Comprehensive Secondary School, Abuja; and Kano Capital Girls Secondary School, Kano.
The event, held as part of the bank’s activities to mark the 2023 Global Money Week, championed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), sought to bring financial literacy and education to students in the mentored schools.
Delivering her lecture at the event, which centred around the theme of the Global Money Week, ‘Plan your Money, Plant your Future’, the Chief Executive Officer of 9PSB, Branka Mracajac, noted that financial literacy had become a necessity for everyone, particularly the youths in this digital age, to prepare them for making informed decisions, especially in matters relating to money, savings and investment, thereby preparing them for the future.
Speaking on the basic principles of money, the savings culture, and budgeting, Mracajac said, “It is important to spend your money wisely. One of the ways to help you spend your money wisely is to make a budget. To make a budget, you need money. So, you plan on how to split your costs into wants and needs. It is important to carefully distinguish between what we truly need and what we merely desire, to properly plan and manage a budget.”
Highlighting the need to grow money through investment and the dangers of wrong or uninformed investments, Mracajac stressed the need to invest in proper channels and include a financial plan in order to avoid bankruptcy.
“When you get older and start making serious money, you will begin to make financial plans towards investment. It is, however, important to be mindful about how you invest as some investments can go wrong and lead to the loss of the principal money,” Mracajac added.
She expressed 9PSB’s full support of the mentoring programme, which perfectly fits its social objective as a bank.
According to her, financial literacy is one way to drive financial inclusion, stressing there is no better time to start than now “with students at this level because they are the leaders of tomorrow.”
The occasion was also used to formally introduce the 9PSB Financial Literacy Club, a corporate social responsibility initiative of the bank, to the schools. The club was well received by teachers and students in the three schools.
Global Money Week is an annual global awareness campaign to educate young people on the values attached to money and the entire money cycle – earning, savings, spending, investing, and donating.
The 2023 edition was from March 20 to 26, with various financial sector players worldwide marking the week with different activities.
