Mindiez Financial Education

Mindiez

Mindiez Financial Education

Making Financial Education Fun & Engaging for African Learners

Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

ISR

For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models

Lack of financial literacy is major problem globally, and particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa where according to research only 27% of adults possess basic financial knowledge, with rural populations, women, and marginalized groups being particularly disadvantaged according to the Global Findex Database (2021). At the same time access to digital financial services such as mobile banking and innovative lending or fintech platforms have greatly enhanced financial inclusion across the continent where according to the World Bank, financial inclusion in SSA has grown from 23% in 2011 to 55% in 2021. However, financial literacy levels remain critically low, limiting the effective use of financial services or worse exposing users to risks such as excessive lending or unsustainable spending habits. This has led to the recognition that greater financial inclusion needs to be coupled with higher financial literacy to support people in making better financial decisions and managing their money for their long-term well-being. Introducing financial literacy into high school syllabuses has been proposed as a key way to deal with this challenge. However currently very few schools in SSA include any form of financial education, especially the low-income communities where the majority of learners on the continent are enrolled.

We have developed both fun and engaging teaching materials and a complimentary digital game to teach learners key financial concepts ranging from budgeting and saving to learning about interest, insurance and inflation. The teaching materials are designed to be accessible to schools with minimal internet access or teachers with very basic education levels through an online platform (which is also accessible offline). For those schools/learners that do have mobile/computer access, an optional interactive game enables the learners to put into practice the concepts they have learned on earning, saving, investing and spending money (the virtual currency of the game); for example, “working” for money is done by answering math questions in a financial context. Our solution effectively creates a full syllabus of financial literacy materials “in a box” that are made broadly accessible through our technology platform which has been optimized for settings with minimal or intermittent internet access, enabling us to reach a large audience that usually is unfamiliar with basic financial management skills. The complimentary game utilizes gamification between the learners though a fun and engaging digital environment to supplement these teaching materials.

We have/are in the process of running 5 pilot programs in middle and high schools in Uganda, Zambia and Kenya. Most of these schools cater for some of the poorest communities in the country with very basic facilities and teachers that often themselves have only basic education. While many efforts focus on basic education in this context we have been overwhelmed by the demand and response we have received from such schools at offering financial training education that is practical, easy-to-understand and incredibly important for these students’ futures yet is usually a luxury only accessible to students in wealthier communities. These low-income learners’ lack of skills or knowledge of how to manage their limited finances will only further enhances the inequality and lack of access and opportunity for these learners as they enter the work world. Furthermore, we have seen that the teachers themselves who often come from these communities similarly lack these basic financial skills and similarly benefit from taking part in our trainings over and above the knowledge and skills that they convey to their learners.