World Savings Week 2020
To mark this year’s WSD, German Sparkassenstiftung partnered with the Alliance for African Women Initiative (AFAWI) to train fifty (50) industrious market women from five major markets in the Greater Accra region on the importance of business savings and management. A week-long training was held from the 26th to the 30th of October 2020 observing all the safety protocols of COVID-19.
The theme for this year’s celebration was ‘Secure your future with your savings – Sie sika na ɛnhwɛ wo daakye’ using both English and the local dialect. The women were taken through theory and practical studies from which they were taught basic economic background; Planning income and costs (Budgeting); The magic triangle of saving; The economic impact of saving amongst others.
Partners
German Sparkassenstiftung partnered with the Alliance for African Women Initiative (AFAWI). With their focus on women, German Sparkassenstiftung identified AFAWI as a potential partner to assist with the mobilization of the women from the various markets. AFAWI is a grassroots Ghanaian organisation, that has been striving to narrow the gender gap and empower women and children in Ghana for over ten years. Their Livelihood Project provides workshops and training sessions in business skills, bookkeeping, commercial consultancy and management in order to further the women’s education and help their businesses for the future. Women are additionally provided capital in the form of small loans with low interest rates, for investing it in a new business or expand an existing one, as many women do not have access to a normal bank accounts because of the accompanying costs.
Event Setup
- Week-long Training
The participants went through 3-day Micro-Business Simulation Training and 2-days Savings Simulation Game totalling a 5-day training. The objective was to assist them gain basic business skills, understand the factors that influence business success and to understand the purpose and benefits of managing personal and family budgets as well as savings. The simulations offered participants a risk-free environment in which to try things out, true to the motto: nothing ventured, nothing gained. The simulations’ main targets are to teach people to identify problem causes and to analyse correlations. By interpreting the results and evaluating player performance, the teams shape and hone their own success strategy.
- Closing Ceremony
The closing ceremony was held on Friday 30th October 2020 to mark the World Savings Day. The event was crowned with speeches from the Senior Project Consultant (Mr. Peter Schuessler) of German Sparkassenstiftung and the Managing Director of AFAWI (Mr. Philip Kwesi Agyei). The MD of AFAWI, urged the women to cultivate the habit of savings to ensure their future financial security. Mr. Peter Schuessler re-iterated that some business failed due to failure of the business owners to save. The women were encouraged to save more and to put in practice what they had been taught at the training.
Each participant was encouraged and assisted to open savings account with credit unions which were identified in their localities. The identified MFI and credit union were the Taifa credit union and Opportunity International Savings and Loan Limited. To support with the account opening and membership of the participants, a seed capital of Ghc50 each was donated by German Sparkassenstiftung. At the end of the ceremony, the women were handed certificates to indicate their participation. There were other side activities such as savings quiz game, role play and raffle draw to engage the participants.
World Savings week in photos
- Introductory ceremony was held to welcome the women and to introduce the program for the week.
- Following the protocols for the COVID’19, each participant had to adhere to the health regulations at the time.
- Weeklong Business training: Three days were used for the Micro-Business Games and two days for the Savings Game.
- Closing ceremony to mark the World Savings Day: Each participant was awarded a certificate of participation. The participants organized themselves and re-enacted a play on saving for the future.
