The Executive Director of the Centre for Financial Literacy Education Africa (CFLE Africa), Peter Asare Nyarko, has called on banks and financial institutions in Ghana to commit more resources to financial literacy initiatives as a strategic investment in national development.
Speaking at the 3rd National Financial Awareness and Financial Literacy Conference held at the University of Ghana, Mr. Nyarko stressed that financial literacy is essential for economic empowerment and long-term poverty reduction.
He emphasized that CFLE Africa’s core mission is to make every Ghanaian financially aware and literate, but this mission cannot be achieved without the backing of the banking sector.
“For us to have a community of financial literates—and that’s our mandate at CFLE Africa—we need resources to be able to reach people,” he said.
“Banking institutions need to support us. They need to put in resources. They need to channel some of their marketing dollars into financial literacy activities,” he added.
He explained that the efforts of CFLE Africa are not separate from the interests of the financial sector but rather complement them. By educating people on financial planning and management, he noted, the organisation is cultivating a new base of clients for banks and financial institutions.
“Everything that CFLE Africa is doing, we are actually promoting people to buy financial services,” he added. “We want to partner with the banks; we want to work with them so we can touch every single person in Ghana.”
CFLE Africa, which has been at the forefront of financial literacy advocacy for the past seven years, has reportedly reached over 12 million Ghanaians through media outreach, public engagements, and strategic partnerships. These include collaborations with KPMG, Deloitte, the Ghana Association of Banks, and a host of media organisations and NGOs.
Mr. Nyarko shared success stories from campaigns in local markets such as Madina, Makola, and Tudu, where traders who were once financially unaware are now saving, investing, and planning for retirement.
“They were saying that after what we shared with them in April, now they have been able to buy an insurance policy, set up an investment fund, and open retirement accounts.”
“These are the impacts that we see,” he recalled.
He further argued that a financially literate population could help tackle deep-rooted socioeconomic challenges.
He emphasized that widespread financial knowledge and the ability to manage personal finances effectively could lead to a reduction in social vices and ultimately break the cycle of inherited poverty.
In his words, Africa often passes down poverty rather than wealth—a reality that, he insisted, must change.
Despite the organisation’s achievements, he noted that CFLE Africa still faces significant challenges—particularly inadequate funding and limited human resources—and called for greater support from stakeholders.
