Youth empowered to save wisely |14 May 2018

UN Youth Seychelles officially launched the Global money week in Seychelles on March 12, 2018 in a ceremony at the Site auditorium, Mont Fleuri.

A large crowd of about 150 people, mostly students responded to the invitation for this first launch. Attendees also included principal secretary for youth Fabian Palmyre, special advisor for education Merida Delcy, first deputy governor of Central Bank Seychelles Christophe Edmond, head teachers and teachers.

The event commenced with the keynote address by Mr Edmond who termed this initiative as a “commendable one”.

Mr Edmond addressed the youth in particular and urged them to take advantage of the opportunities being offered to them, to read wisely to acquire knowledge and be inquisitive and ask questions to either their parents or others in the financial sector.

This was followed by a presentation from founder and president of UN Youth Seychelles Annarose Clarisse who opened with a reflection on how we spend money. The thought that we spend money we have not earned, on things we do not need, to impress people we do not like, highlighted the need for financial education. Also the desire and fear of losing money drive people’s way of life leading to poor financial decision-making.

She further explained the importance of celebrating global money week and what other countries do to celebrate it and enlightened those present about activities prepared for the week.

A financial educational tour was organised for over 30 students to visit various financial institutions including banks, insurance companies, the Central Bank of Seychelles and the Seychelles Pension Fund. The response from these institutions was quick and much appreciated. Further to that a ‘Selfie Challenge’ was launched whereby young people could share pictures on Facebook completing the sentence “I save Because …” where they had to complete it or use their designed photo frame and #GlobalMoneyWeek #GlobalMoneyWeekSeychelles and #UNYouthSeychelles. The person with most likes won.

Youth principal secretary Fabien Palmyre made an interactive address and got the group thinking about various aspects of financial behaviour. He posed the question to the students as to whether they could save at least R5 a day for a year and that would be R1,800 in saving.

He went further to get them to think about doing this for 10 years and that would be R18,000. The audience responded positively mentioning that they could actually save more.

MCB managing director Bernard Jackson delivered a presentation on banking products and services and explained how different products can fit people’s needs.

Mr Jackson shared a bit about his journey to become a banker and eventually a managing director and advised the students in the room to let their struggles or that of their parents be their drive, their ambition and thus one day aspire us to take up a better lifestyle.

Anna Yang, project and events officer of UN Youth Seychelles and a recent A-Level graduate from Independent School, gave an informative session entitled ‘You may not be rich but dare to think like a millionaire’. Her presentation touched on good money habits, importance of saving and ways to save as a student.

Her advice was: ‘Think like a boss, budget and plan, think before you spend, tackle debts immediately, know your taxes, investments are a must and soak up all the knowledge’.

Lastly, Sarah Lang, a senior financial stability analyst at Central Bank Seychelles, gave a presentation on the ways financial education impacts the economy. She talked about exchange rates, inflation or interest rate, changes in monetary policy so we know when to watch out on spending and prepare for harder economic times. How the public reacts to financial events, economics and shocks is dictated by financial literacy. Lower levels of financial literacy have been associated with lower rates of planning for retirement, lower rates of asset accumulation, paying more for your financial and banking services than you need to. Lower participation in the stock market, high level of debt.

UN Youth Seychelles is honoured to lead this initiative in collaboration with other stakeholders and partners and it has extended its appreciation for the support of the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, youth department, Seychelles Bankers’ Association, Central Bank of Seychelles, participating commercial banks, H Savy Insurance and the Seychelles Pension Fund and young people who showed an interest in this new initiative.