Anna, a middle-aged woman, who lives with her husband and children in Jos, Plateau State always dreamt of expanding her business by employing labour and serving more clients through her brand, Annie’s World. However, for a long time, Anna’s plans continued to only be a dream due to her lack of financial education. Saving and investment was not something she was used to, bookkeeping was non-existent and expenses on trivial things could not stop. She never kept a record of sales or debts owed to her by her customers, this also affected her business as some debts were never remembered or paid. This continued until she joined the SEDIN financial literacy training through Bege Foundation, a partner of GIZ-SEDIN on the financial literacy project
The training exposed her to several ways to diversify her income and expand her business through smart financial decisions. By implementing the knowledge gained from the training, she could earn more through multiple streams of income. Saving, investing and record-keeping have become a culture in her business.
“It taught me about saving and managing my finances effectively in order to grow my business. My savings have really improved since I took the training because it is now a part of my daily, weekly and monthly routine.” Anna said.
To take her financial journey to the next level, she joined groups where she saves daily, weekly and monthly. They motivate each other to hit their saving targets. Her business has experienced explosive growth since then and she believes there is more to come.
“The best part of saving is when I get to reinvest the money back into my business and watch it grow before my eyes,” Anna said.
Her dreams of employing labour have now become a reality and she hopes to add more hands to her team in the future. When a new staff joins her team, they go through an orientation process where she cascades her knowledge on financial literacy to them.
Financial Literacy
The Pro-Poor Growth and Promotion of Employment in Nigeria Programme – SEDIN developed a comprehensive financial literacy (FL) programme in 2016 to strengthen the knowledge and skills of MSMEs and the economically active population. Financial literacy describes “a combination of financial awareness, knowledge, skills, attitude and behaviours necessary to make sound financial decisions and ultimately achieve financial well-being” (OECD/INFE 2012). The programme developed a training package that is learner-centred, in addition to educational materials for trainees and trainers. The materials were reviewed and updated in 2019 in close
coordination with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and members of the Financial Literacy Working Group (FLWG) to align its contents with national priorities. The review involved national and international experts and materials were tested with the target audience during focus group discussions.
I have been able to employ about 5 people who work with me. I believe anybody with knowledge of financial literacy training has the capacity to become good business owners.
