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South Africa: National Youth Financial Literacy Day Cautions Youth to Invest Now |
| Source: |
http://www.jse.co.za/ |
| Source Date: |
Thursday, July 18, 2013 |
| Focus: |
Electronic and Mobile Government, Citizen Engagement, Internet Governance
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| Country: |
South Africa |
| Created: |
Jul 18, 2013 |
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Ina Cronje, MEC for Finance in Kwa-Zulu Natal, will be the key note speaker. Other speakers on the day will include the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, National Credit Regulator, Financial Planning Institute and Ithala Development. The aim of this initiative is to grow the economy by providing financial knowledge and literacy to young people. These institutions have joined forces to educate and equip youth with tools which will assist them in becoming financially savvy.
“South Africa is not a nation that saves – information about the best ways to save and invest was also not made readily available to large portions of the population and this too is the reason for the country’s currently low levels of domestic savings,” says Zeona Jacobs, JSE Director: Issuer Services and Investor Relations.
According to the stats released by the Banking Association, approximately 70% of adult South Africans do not save. Youth make up 52% of the total population therefore behavioural change of the youth has to be influenced from an early age.
“Financial literacy is a pre-requisite for the successful implementation of the numerous programmes initiated by government and the private sector for the social and economic upliftment of the nation, adding that it starts with managing one’s personal finance. The younger we start, the more chance we have to succeed. We must start to save and invest wisely, we applaud the JSE and our KZNFLA partners for this great initiative to bring our young people on board,” says Ina Cronjé, MEC for Finance in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
“As the professional body for financial planners in South Africa we are committed to ensuring that all consumers are exposed to financial literacy, particularly young people. It is for this reason that we are delighted to be involved in this immensely worthy initiative of the JSE. We believe that it is largely through initiatives such as these that the public can be exposed to the benefits of proper financial knowledge at a young age and look forward to continued involvement in the years to come,” adds Prem Govender, Chairperson of Financial Planning Institute.
According to Alfred Matsimbi, Education and Communication Officer of the National Credit Regulator, “It is of critical importance for all South Africans, young people included to know their financial and credit responsibilities and also their rights as spelled out in the National Credit Act (NCA), Act No 34 of 2005. This piece of legislation (NCA) was enacted by the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa to promote and advance the economic welfare of consumers. Among other things the act also protects consumers against reckless credit granting, it prohibits unfair credit and credit-marketing practices, it regulates interest rates and fees charged by credit providers and it also give the consumers the rights to request credit agreements and contracts to be written in a simple and understandable language of their choice.”
“In order to succeed in business, entrepreneurs require strong financial management skills. We have a responsibility to nurture our country’s future entrepreneurs by empowering them with financial literacy skills at an early stage. Together with our partners, we are committed to increasing youth involvement in self-help strategies such as starting their own businesses,” says Ms Tozi Mthethwa, Ithala Group Marketing Divisional Manager.
We feel that it is our responsibility to develop investment and saving savvy South African youth and we hope that this initiative goes a long way in ensuring this,” concludes Jacobs.
ENDS
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South Africa: National Youth Financial Literacy Day Cautions Youth to Invest Now Young people must become financially savvy if South Africa were to grow its economy and develop the country On 7 June 2013 the Johannesburg Stock Exchange JSE will partner with the KwaZulu-Natal Financial Literacy Association championed by KZN Finance MEC Ina Cronjé in Esikhawini at Umfolozi FET College near Empangeni to provide financial knowledge and literacy to young people This is the third year that the JSE will be running the National Youth Financial Literacy Day in conjunction with financial institutions regulatory financial bodies and other organisations The event is targeted at high school pupils university students’ young entrepreneurs and other youth Since the launch of National Youth Financial Literacy it has drawn interest from other provinces in South Africa this year both Pretoria and Kwa-Zulu Natal will participate The workshops will cover a range of topics including Planning for Financial health Protect and Maintain a healthy credit status Establishing and Maintaining hea
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