By Romeo Umali
The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has today launched this year’s financial literacy training focusing on wealth creation and enhancing public awareness in finance.
The Investor Education Week has started today and will run up to the 11th of December, 2020.
Deputy governor of the RBM, Dr. Grant Kabango explained that the bank is making progress in sensitizing the public in terms of money saving and investing. 
“We are certainly making progress as a country in that area. We appreciate that it is not an easy thing because we may preach a message of importance of savings but what matters most is whether people have got funds – money to save. So that’s key. But, we have seen quite a number of developments in that area clearly suggesting that our message is reaching the ordinary Malawians.
“If the economy picks up and grows, people will have money. Because as growth takes place it means income is generated and people are able to have some money to spare with those funds that are meant for sparing, that would be used for the investments the economic environment is what dictates what happens in terms of investment growth,” Kabango said.
Speaking to Journalists, Secretary of the Treasury to the Ministry of Finance, Alfred Kutengule said government is aiming at providing chances to Malawians to invest and by early next year, results will come out if people invest.
“The major issue is to provide opportunities for people to invest,” he said. “As government we want to broaden the domestic debt market so that people should have things where they can invest. By the next first quarter of 2021, the (RBM) should be in a position of seeing something coming up,” Kutengule elaborated.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Malawi Stock Exchange, John Robson Kamanga said they want to remove the myth that is common which says that shares can only be bought by the elites.
“We want to demystify that element, so as to attract more investors especially the retail aspect is one, to allow investors to invest in the stock market, even one share can invest in the stock market,” Kamanga said.
During the official launch of Investor education, popular musician who is also the brand ambassador for FDH Bank, Patience Namadingo entertained the guests.
This is the first investor’s education course in the country and in June 2019, Malawi Stock Exchange participated in the drafting of the 2020-2024 National Financial Literacy Program Action Plan together with stakeholders from the Ministry of Education, Science & Technology, Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability & social welfare, Ministry of local government, ministry of information, Ministry of sports, the association of business Journalists, media houses, UN Women, financial industry association and the Reserve Bank of Malawi.
Malawi stock exchange was inaugurated in 1995 and opened its doors on 11 November, 1996, under the aegis of RBM, with 2, 300 Malawian citizens buying shares in the National insurance company.
