The ability to make informed financial decisions and to take advantage of the financial system is critical to the financial well being of people at the base of the pyramids. These are some tips that have worked

1. Tips for Teaching Financial Literacy to Base of the
Pyramid Participant
Background Tips
Financial education is a necessary skill for all especially those at the base of the
pyramid. They comprise mostly of people with limited literacy skills, it is therefore
important that the learning environment is relaxing to the participants. An
environment a bit better than what they are generally used to will suffice. A town
hall, community meeting place should be used for the seminar.
Generally, the seminar topic are based on the basic financial literacy subjects like;
Money Management; Savings and Investment; Borrowings and Loans; and Managing
Risk. And it is expected that at the end of the training participants will have been
equipped with the skills and knowledge that is required for effective money
management and financial planning.
Effective delivering of financial education to this target group should be built around
group work and discussions in order to ensure effective participation and mutual
learning. Class size should be between 5 – 25 participants
Introduction Tips
Open the training with a brief personal introduction and acknowledging the
involvement and contribution of sponsoring organization(s). The facilitator should
invite the participants to introduce themselves as well, this should include a bit
about what they do for a living. This introduction can serve as an opening icebreaker
as it has a way of creating humour especially if participants are somewhat familiar
with each other. Be careful though not to allow the introduction to get into any
controversy.
Icebreaker Tips
Get the participants to set the ground rules for the training as an icebreaker. These
may include turning off mobile phones, avoiding distraction like side talks, also
participants should be allowed to fix their break times. Remember that the attention
span is low so class exercise, group discussions and breaks should be used effectively.
Seminar Topic; Money Management
Tips- Use storytelling and Group brainstorming
People generally like to hear stories, you can use storytelling to connect financial
education concepts with everyday living. Make the story relevant to their situation.
The story does not necessarily have to be complex, simple stories will suffice.
A common practice that has worked well is to tell the participant a story of two
families/individuals, one that manage money well and the others that does not. Be as
detailed as possible. It will help if you have pictures of any two families to properly

2. connect the story to visuals for lasting effect. And ask them which of the
families/individuals they would like to be like. Let them discuss and exchange their
view by answering the following;
1. What are the different ways they use to reduce the money they spend on
snacking, parties, and other unnecessary expenses?
2. What do you do when you have extra money?
3. What about when you don’t have all the money you need to do something
important like; pay school fees, house rent, goods for business, etc?
4. What advice would you give the family in our story? If you were a member of
that family what would you do?
After the discussion, you can summarise by pointing out some of their suggestion
and add a few others that are relevant to them.
Introduction to budgeting as a tool for money management
Class Exercise
Divide the class into two; each group will come up with a list of all the things they
spend money on. You can write Group A expenses on one part of the board and
Group B on the other side. Get the participants to suggest an amount for each item
for each of the groups. You are likely to have varying cost from each group. This is
normal because everyone will be relating the cost to themselves and their
circumstances. Remember to make a distinction between daily cost and monthly
cost. The purpose is to give an overview of how much they spend in a month.
After listing out the costs, then sum it up to arrive at the total monthly expenses. Get
two volunteers to suggest how much money they make on daily basis. Multiply by
30days to arrive at the average monthly income. Now write it against the total
expenses, do you have a deficit or a surplus?
Explain to them that it’s only somebody who has surplus that can save for the future.
Connect the effect of not saving for the future to the initial stories. You can interject
it with the definition of need and want. Explaining how reducing money spent on
wants can help them have more money for savings to meet important financial
needs in the future.
You can use the following as a guide for the lessons learnt and discussion from the
exercise;
1. How much do you NEED on a daily or monthly basis?
2. How can you reduce the money you spend on WANTS?
3. How much can you save?
4. How do you think you can increase your income?
5. How do you save for important occasions?
Allow ample time for the sharing of experiences and discussion

3. Conclusions
In conclusion, give opportunity for questions. Do not be surprised if they ask you
questions that are not directly related to the discussion. Endeavour to answer all the
question as best as you could. Where you could spare the time, inform them that you
would be available for a 30minutes financial counselling sessions after the seminar.
Then, do a summary of the entire lesson and review new financial words mentioned
in the course of the seminar. Let the participants also list four things they will start
doing immediately to enhance the way they manage their money hence fort.
Thank everyone for coming and wish them well on their journey to financial
wellbeing.
The other topics like; Savings and Investment; Borrowings and Loans;
and Managing Risk, can be scheduled for other time
Financial Literacy for all organises free seminars/workshops for market women and
men, small business owners, town unions, women group and youth association at
town halls, churches, club meetings, etc.