Nigeria trains civil servants on financial literacy

The government of Nigeria has started training civil servants on financial literacy. The training has become necessary as financial literacy has been identified as a major prerequisite for economic development in developing countries.

To guarantee economic success, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has commenced a Service-Wide Sensitisation workshop for civil servants on financial literacy anchored by the Department of Economic Research Policy Management.

At the programme on Monday in Abuja, the Director, Economic Research Policy Management (ERM), Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Ogbonna Grace noted that in most economies, particularly developing countries, “success or failure stems from the understanding of the concept of financial literacy”.
According to Mrs Ogbonna Grace “financial literacy has continued to acquire operational significance within the global economic community”.

The Director ERM further stated: “The success or failure of most economies particularly the developing nations has been traceable to the recognition or otherwise pivotal role of the knowledge or understanding of the concept of financial literacy.”

The objective of the financial literacy workshop she said “would have been achieved especially in the area of building the capacity of the government officers working in the financial sector”.

According to Ogbonna Grace, “mastering the management of personnel financing, enhancing trust in the financial system through consumer protection, acquiring skills for economic diversification, growing capacity to create multiple streams of income and knowledge of the national financial inclusions strategy” will be taught to participants at the workshop.

In her goodwill message, Temitope Akin-Fadeyi, representative of the Financial Inclusion Secretariat of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said the apex bank “is aware the recent pandemic has affected financial life of Nigerian citizens”.

She highlighted three elements required for financial literacy to include: “financial knowledge, financial behaviour and financial attitude.”

According to Mrs Akin-Fadeyi, the workshop is important in order to cross-pollinate ideas that will enhance financial literacy among stakeholders.