To convene leaders in investment, education, and technology to explore digital platforms to transform financial literacy, Digify Africa hosted a digital financial empowerment roundtable, on August 4, at The Bank in Rosebank.

Speaker and moderator Samke Mhlongo led the conversation by putting forward the global digitalisation index statistics. “If we look at the global digital index, it says SA currently scores 65/100, meaning we rank above the global average in terms of investing. There is still room for us to participate more, especially among those who remain excluded, for reasons such as being in the rural areas, language barriers, or being reluctant.”

Read more: The importance of teaching your children about money

Digify Africa content manager Anitta Banja responded to a question posed by Mhlongo, about the importance of financial literacy in the digital space. “Digify Africa’s aim is to train young people in skills that are in demand, and to enable them to create sustainable livelihoods in the digital economy. We try to bridge the education gap by leveraging the power of WhatsApp to make necessary content accessible. We chose WhatsApp because 80% of people are on the social media app.” Banja added that the platform is delivering their content on WhatsApp through a healthy mix of text, voice notes, and photos.

Group chief investment and risk officer Nicola Comninos added that financial literacy was important, because it determined how a person builds and protects their wealth. “At the end of the day, you want to make sure your finances are protected. The last time I checked the statistics, the number of people who owned shares in the market was low, which is what we are trying to change, by encouraging people to have shares and invest.”

JSE’s business development and exchange traded products manager Adele Hattingh noted that, in as much as people were keen on investing, they were also reluctant. “People could be reluctant to join financial institutions because they’ve probably had a poor experience with a ‘so-called’ financial institution in the past. They’ve lost money, or the experience was negative. In South Africa, we probably have a huge trust deficit problem, due to scammers who try to take advantage of people who might not have the correct, or adequate, information at hand. “

Hattingh concluded that the JSE has a number of educational content on their website and social media platforms to help people who were unfamiliar with investing. “We also have a ‘hands-on’ approach, which is the investment challenge and a virtual trading challenge, which uses virtual money to learn about the market, and how certain decisions influence portfolios.”

Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration!