WINDHOEK – Standard Bank Namibia has handed over a total of N$210 000 to the Business Literacy Project, which is an initiative of the Youth Entrepreneurship Seminars Trust (YES Trust).
“This is the eighth consecutive year that we are involved in such a worthy cause aimed at equipping our youth with essential business financial literacy,” explained Surihe Gaomas-Guchu, PR and Communications Manager of Standard Bank Namibia at a press conference in Windhoek on Thursday.
The Trust seeks to empower Namibian youth with basic business financial literacy, providing them with practical business experience through simulation. This is a simulation that requires them to think and take the necessary financial decisions that will lead to the success or the failure of the business.
“Through a project like this we would love to see many Namibian youngsters making informed financial decisions. This initiative also ties in well with government’s Financial Literacy Initiative of which Standard Bank Namibia is also a member. Standard Bank Namibia believes that educating our youngsters in business literacy will lead to a more productive workforce, decreased unemployment and a fruitful economy,” said Gaomas-Guchu.
In response the chairman of YES Trust Anton du Preez expressed gratitude for Standard Bank’s contribution saying that the project is fast gaining momentum by benefitting approximately 1 500 learners. “This is a rotation based project where we spend two full days at a designated school by concentrating on Grade 11 learners and teachers on a practical business simulation exercise. The good thing is the learners are exposed to concepts usually taught in Grade 12,” said Du Preez.
Standard Bank’s Regional Head of Credit for Southern Africa, Pieré Clarke, who has been part of the Standard Bank/YES Trust collaboration from the beginning, stressed the importance of business literacy for the youth.
“There’s a saying that goes: turnover is vanity, profit is sanity and cash is reality. So in essence numbers are not just numbers – they actually mean something more than meets the eye. This project allows the theory to become practical. We want to build a sustainable Namibia, aligned with government’s vision and as such we need to grow entrepreneurial skills. Large corporates and government cannot remain the only generators of employment. The trick is to engender this sense of entrepreneurship and innovation – why you should work for someone else, when you can actually work for yourself,” said Clarke.
Business literate learners become business literate adults who are better off in providing for themselves and their families. They are more likely to save for a brighter future and less likely to fall into the debt trap.