Visa launched its "My Money Skills" financial literacy campaign in the United Arab Emirates to educate young citizens on personal finance management. The campaign addressed research finding Emiratis lacked financial literacy skills to manage newfound wealth. Visa partnered with schools to develop Arabic and English curriculum materials on budgeting, saving, using credit wisely, and planning for the future. The program was piloted at three schools and included workshops for teachers and an educational video game. The goal was to empower individuals and communities with accessible financial education.
NRC, IRC-KHF and IBC would like to thank the youth who participated in the research and shared their experiences. Without their help we would not have been able to complete the report and ensure that youth issues amongst refugees, internally displaced people and their host communities in the region are highlighted. We would also like to thank the teams in the region who supported the fieldwork and analysis.
The document discusses the launch of the International Year of Youth in 2010 and rising global youth unemployment. It notes that 81 million youth aged 15-24 were unemployed in 2009 according to the ILO, the highest rate ever recorded. The SADC Youth Forum in 2010 will address youth empowerment and sustainability in the region where unemployment is high. It will bring together youth, governments, NGOs and businesses to discuss entrepreneurship and funding initiatives for youth development.
For my final project of my Maymester in Cape Town, I performed a comparative analysis of the importance of corporate social investment in the U.S. and South Africa. I listed the challenges I found and also outlined a solution to mitigate these challenges. That solution is FMG.
Financing Women-Owned SMEs: A Case Study in EthiopiaHeather Risley
This report, authored by Heather Kipnis, provides an analysis of USAID's Development Credit Authority loan guarantee program in Ethiopia and provides recommendations for how future programming could improve financial services that help female borrowers grow their businesses.
This document summarizes the challenges of youth employment in Tanzania. It finds that while Tanzania has experienced high GDP growth, it has failed to create enough productive jobs. With nearly 1 million new entrants to the labor market annually and low earnings, youth struggle to find meaningful employment. Formal sector jobs remain limited while the majority of youth work in low-skilled agriculture or the informal sector. Education quality is poor, resulting in a mismatch between the skills youth possess and the needs of the market. Current interventions to address youth unemployment lack coordination, evidence of effectiveness, and sufficient scale. The document identifies a need for further research to better understand effective policies and interventions.
Objectives which attract financial growth associated with the market odds of a angel capital market are to stimulate business strategies in order to maximize success and support realistic expectations at less cost. Around the world large markets have developed around collective investment and these account for a substantial portion of all trading on major stock exchanges. Collective investments are promoted with a wide range of investment that aims at either targeting specific geographic regions or specified industry sectors.
There is no simple way to solving the African youth question. This book seeks to make a simple but no ordinary call on all stakeholders to take steps and help solve the youth question across the continent. This is a call, which does not require guns and machetes, but intellectual and moral weapons without which lasting results can never be secured. One other important issue worth mentioning, if even in passing, is the slur of ghettoes. Ghettoes have been known to provide safe havens for criminals and traps for the vulnerable youth especially the homeless, poverty stricken and those from hot spots. Ghettoes do not only provide fertile grounds for criminals, they also provide them with the opportunity to recruit vulnerable youth to their fold. There is no doubt that, policies have no legs to walk on into reality. The traditional track for their movement into reality is through programmes deliberately designed and religiously adhered to. On the other hand, institutions implement programmes. Thus the stronger, effective and resourceful an institution is, the better the programmes are implemented and consequently the effectiveness of the policy in the lives of the intended target. The media, with its reach, the ability to set agenda, and its 'god' status in the eyes of society should attempt to educate the youth on family values to the society. Debates could be generated on the essence of the family unit among others to psyche society up by highlighting the inherent beauty of the family system. The time has come for chieftaincy institution, to reassert its traditional duties to the youth and society. This is a call for grassroot education where chiefs and sub-chiefs would engage their societies in meaningful 'Nim-tree' and Baobab-tree discussions to establish codes and reinstate the position of the family in the society and more importantly to the youth. Two critical programmes, which could provide substantive and long-term opportunities to the youth, should centre on Incubation Centres and National Employment Programme. Traditionally, incubation centres give office space and technical advice in the early years of start-ups with the capacity, by design, to support any area of entrepreneurial direction government policies indicates. The high level of expertise required to successfully manage a business, coupled with the cost of rent, makes it necessary for the government, either singularly or in partnership, to support the culture of the business incubation centres. These incubation centres should be established with the core goal of providing the necessary technical support and protection for young entrepreneurs during the critical early stages of their businesses. As a matter of national priority, African leaders need to build and empower youth entrepreneurs. The issue of job centres with an online option would enhance the job search and security of the youth. That is to say, the government should establish job centres on campuses....
NRC, IRC-KHF and IBC would like to thank the youth who participated in the research and shared their experiences. Without their help we would not have been able to complete the report and ensure that youth issues amongst refugees, internally displaced people and their host communities in the region are highlighted. We would also like to thank the teams in the region who supported the fieldwork and analysis.
The document discusses the launch of the International Year of Youth in 2010 and rising global youth unemployment. It notes that 81 million youth aged 15-24 were unemployed in 2009 according to the ILO, the highest rate ever recorded. The SADC Youth Forum in 2010 will address youth empowerment and sustainability in the region where unemployment is high. It will bring together youth, governments, NGOs and businesses to discuss entrepreneurship and funding initiatives for youth development.
For my final project of my Maymester in Cape Town, I performed a comparative analysis of the importance of corporate social investment in the U.S. and South Africa. I listed the challenges I found and also outlined a solution to mitigate these challenges. That solution is FMG.
Financing Women-Owned SMEs: A Case Study in EthiopiaHeather Risley
This report, authored by Heather Kipnis, provides an analysis of USAID's Development Credit Authority loan guarantee program in Ethiopia and provides recommendations for how future programming could improve financial services that help female borrowers grow their businesses.
This document summarizes the challenges of youth employment in Tanzania. It finds that while Tanzania has experienced high GDP growth, it has failed to create enough productive jobs. With nearly 1 million new entrants to the labor market annually and low earnings, youth struggle to find meaningful employment. Formal sector jobs remain limited while the majority of youth work in low-skilled agriculture or the informal sector. Education quality is poor, resulting in a mismatch between the skills youth possess and the needs of the market. Current interventions to address youth unemployment lack coordination, evidence of effectiveness, and sufficient scale. The document identifies a need for further research to better understand effective policies and interventions.
Objectives which attract financial growth associated with the market odds of a angel capital market are to stimulate business strategies in order to maximize success and support realistic expectations at less cost. Around the world large markets have developed around collective investment and these account for a substantial portion of all trading on major stock exchanges. Collective investments are promoted with a wide range of investment that aims at either targeting specific geographic regions or specified industry sectors.
There is no simple way to solving the African youth question. This book seeks to make a simple but no ordinary call on all stakeholders to take steps and help solve the youth question across the continent. This is a call, which does not require guns and machetes, but intellectual and moral weapons without which lasting results can never be secured. One other important issue worth mentioning, if even in passing, is the slur of ghettoes. Ghettoes have been known to provide safe havens for criminals and traps for the vulnerable youth especially the homeless, poverty stricken and those from hot spots. Ghettoes do not only provide fertile grounds for criminals, they also provide them with the opportunity to recruit vulnerable youth to their fold. There is no doubt that, policies have no legs to walk on into reality. The traditional track for their movement into reality is through programmes deliberately designed and religiously adhered to. On the other hand, institutions implement programmes. Thus the stronger, effective and resourceful an institution is, the better the programmes are implemented and consequently the effectiveness of the policy in the lives of the intended target. The media, with its reach, the ability to set agenda, and its 'god' status in the eyes of society should attempt to educate the youth on family values to the society. Debates could be generated on the essence of the family unit among others to psyche society up by highlighting the inherent beauty of the family system. The time has come for chieftaincy institution, to reassert its traditional duties to the youth and society. This is a call for grassroot education where chiefs and sub-chiefs would engage their societies in meaningful 'Nim-tree' and Baobab-tree discussions to establish codes and reinstate the position of the family in the society and more importantly to the youth. Two critical programmes, which could provide substantive and long-term opportunities to the youth, should centre on Incubation Centres and National Employment Programme. Traditionally, incubation centres give office space and technical advice in the early years of start-ups with the capacity, by design, to support any area of entrepreneurial direction government policies indicates. The high level of expertise required to successfully manage a business, coupled with the cost of rent, makes it necessary for the government, either singularly or in partnership, to support the culture of the business incubation centres. These incubation centres should be established with the core goal of providing the necessary technical support and protection for young entrepreneurs during the critical early stages of their businesses. As a matter of national priority, African leaders need to build and empower youth entrepreneurs. The issue of job centres with an online option would enhance the job search and security of the youth. That is to say, the government should establish job centres on campuses....
This document discusses the relationship between microfinance and education. It explains that microfinance can help break the cycle of poverty and poor education by providing families with better income to afford sending more children to school. Microfinance institutions also provide financial education to improve money management skills. The document presents a case study of an MFI in India that is considering introducing education loans. It concludes that while providing education with microfinance can have benefits, it also involves tradeoffs in terms of costs and time for loan officers.
South Africa is coordinating and integrating its aid and development cooperation activities in establishing the South African Development Partnership Agency (SADPA). With a projected annual budget of R500 million (approximately US$ 50 million) South Africa has the resources to achieve measurable impact on the African continent, although the size of its budget and its technical resources are smaller than those of many traditional donors.
If South Africa is to be comparatively effective, SADPA will need to deliberate on how to position itself in relation to traditional donors, emerging development partners, as well as the national structures set up to co-ordinate incoming aid at country level (hereafter referred to as national aid architectures). These institutions increasingly dominate the aid decision-making and negotiation (dialogue) space. South Africa’s vantage point (as an African country with common experiences and a common African agenda that affords it legitimacy and, therefore, access to the region) enables it to have a partnership-based approach.
This allows it to intervene in what are often sensitive areas, including peace support operations and mediation. South Africa’s success as a development partner will depend on SADPA capitalising on peacebuilding activities and post-conflict development interventions in a strategic manner that differentiates it from other players in this arena. South Africa has already engaged in peacebuilding and development activities in many African countries. In 2013, Cheryl Hendricks and Amanda Lucey, on behalf of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), reviewed the impact of South Africa’s programming in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and South Sudan in a study called ‘Enhancing South Africa’s post-conflict development and peacebuilding activity in Africa’.
The results show that South Africa has a number of comparative advantages, as well as notable successes. However, South Africa also faces implementation and policy challenges, some of which are shared by other development partners and donors. This paper contends that South Africa is yet to comprehensively engage with national aid architectures and is thus only tangentially part of the aid effectiveness debates and policy dialogue – especially at partner country level. There are evident opportunities to improve programming in coordination with and complementary to traditional and other emerging donors and development partners.
As an emerging development partner, South Africa has interesting opportunities to develop its own capacities by gathering lessons learnt and best practices from other international actors in similar situations. South Africa can also benefit from engaging in aid architectures as a means of sharing best practices, gaining influence and visibility and improving its capacity.
The 28th African Union Summit declared “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through investments in youth” as its theme, which connects the “Agenda 2063” that offers a comprehensive development vision for Africa. Regardless, African youth faces numerous challenges and opportunities in the fields of skills training, technology, entrepreneurship, agribusiness, advocacy, and political involvement. Hopes that Africa’s dramatic population bulge may create prosperity seem to have been overdone. It is time for development economists to look beyond the stylized facts to the dire realities of Africa’s frustrated youth and burgeoning informal economies. Although development economists talk about a demographic dividend for the continent of Africa, however, what the continent has now is not a ‘dividend’ but a youth population ‘bulge’.
https://crimsonpublishers.com/mcda/fulltext/MCDA.000579.php
For more open access journals in Crimson Publishers please click on link: https://crimsonpublishers.com
For more articles on journal of agronomy and crop science please click on below link: https://crimsonpublishers.com/mcda/
The document is the 2014 annual report of CEFoRD (Center for Empowering Children and Youth Rights Development). It summarizes CEFoRD's activities in 2014, including implementing 4 projects focused on governance, youth participation, and children's rights. It provides an overview of CEFoRD's organizational focus on issues like governance, child protection, and gender-based violence. The report also describes CEFoRD's efforts to strengthen its organizational capacity through trainings and hiring consultants. Overall, it outlines CEFoRD's programming and achievements in 2014.
This document provides biographical and professional details about Luvozi Mjayezi. It summarizes that he is currently the CEO of Ilizwe Start-ups Enterprise Network and Director of Umphakathi Sports and Culture Agency. His roles aim to facilitate community development through youth programs involving sports, arts, and culture. The document also lists his previous positions as a teacher assistant and rugby coach, as well as details about his education and achievements.
Dr. Shabbir Hussain presented at an international conference on Islamic microfinance. He analyzed the outreach of various microfinance models globally and in South Asia. Islamic microfinance has reached 380,000 borrowers across 14 countries, with Bangladesh having the largest outreach of over 100,000 borrowers. However, Islamic microfinance still only represents about 1% of the microfinance market. In Pakistan, over 1.85 million borrowers are currently served by microfinance institutions, though an estimated 27.7 million need access to microcredit. Overall, Islamic microfinance shows potential but still needs to expand its outreach significantly.
The document is the 2019 Africa Visa Openness Index report published by the African Union and African Development Bank. It measures how open African countries are to visitors from other African nations by examining visa requirements. The report found that 47 countries improved or maintained their visa openness scores in 2019. For the first time, Africans now have liberal access to 51% of the continent, up from only 20% in 2016. Countries with more open visa policies tend to see greater foreign investment and economic growth. While progress has been made, more work remains to fully achieve the goal of free movement of people across Africa as outlined in the African Union's Agenda 2063.
13 Economic Priorities For FY13-14 - MSLGROUP IndiaAshraf Engineer
Put together over a period of two months, the report looks at how issues like internal security, the lack of security for women, our callous approach towards sports, etc, impact the economy. The effort is to discuss the impact of issues that most people don't normally associate with the economy.
Africa is home to some of the fast growing countries in the world, a wealth continent full of minerals, abundant human resources and opportunities. At the same time, poverty, underdevelopment, insecurity, infrastructure and talent gaps are high. With 54 independent States and a population of over 1.1 billion inhabitants, Africa economic growth is a paradox story. From the desert in the North through the rich mineral belts of the coastal lines and tourism savannah in Kenya to the dense equatorial forests of Congo basin, Africa’s old dilemma stays the same. The question remains, how can a continent gifted and endowed with the World’s most envied, high in demand and profitable natural resources, abundant and cheap labour market, vast arable land, tourism opportunities and favourable climate said to be the poorest?
Is impact investing gaining grounds in africa with a bark or bite...by arrey ...ivo arrey
This article explores modern trends towards impact investing in Africa. It touches on positive windows for the instrument while highlighting major challenges and the way forward. It is based on academic research/literature and field work by the African Centre for Community and Development.
Author: Arrey Mbongaya Ivo
The document discusses the importance of youth in society and addressing youth unemployment in Africa, specifically in Kenya. It notes that youth unemployment has reached crisis levels, especially due to the global economic recession, and that Kenya faces a particularly serious problem with youth unemployment. It argues that solutions include reforming education to focus on skills employers need, expanding access to higher education, developing small and medium businesses, and improving infrastructure and reducing corruption.
Foresight africa 2014 the brookings institution - africa growth initiativeasafeiran
A top priority for African policymakers in 2014 should be addressing youth unemployment by promoting employment opportunities for the over 14 million young people entering the workforce annually. Strategies must target both rural and urban youth to account for Africa's diverse economies. In rural areas, policies should focus on boosting agricultural productivity through investments in irrigation, seeds and fertilizer. In urban centers, vocational training programs and improved access to capital for small businesses are needed. Cross-cutting initiatives like expanding infrastructure and girls' education can also create jobs and support broader economic growth. Overall, African governments require better employment data to effectively tackle youth unemployment.
This strategic plan summarizes Wezesha's history, achievements, vision, values and strategic goals for 2015-2019. Wezesha was established in 2010 by members of the African diaspora in Ireland to empower African women and children affected by conflict, violence and poverty. It has programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya.
Over the next five years, Wezesha aims to: 1) improve organizational development through better communication, fundraising and capacity building, 2) raise awareness of issues like gender-based violence, poverty, and migration through advocacy and supporting affected groups, and 3) promote community development through partnerships to address these issues at the local level. The plan outlines Wezesha's approach and three strategic
This document provides an overview of an upcoming investment forum called "Invest Sierra Leone 2016" that will take place on May 5th in London. Some key details:
- The forum aims to encourage investment in Sierra Leone and identify innovative investment approaches. It will include panels with government ministers, business leaders, and financiers.
- Confirmed panelists include Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister and Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone.
- The context will be provided by the guide "Sierra Leone: An Investor Guide" produced by Herbert Smith Freehills, Standard Chartered, and Prudential plc.
- The event will be followed by a screening of the trailer
This paper considers that the most challenging needs facing the development of Microentrepreneurship, are the need to develop innovative socially-oriented banks that care about the ―unbankable‖ segment of the society. Family Bank is considered to be one of the ―social businesses‖ which are based entirely upon the partnership as well as social corporate responsibility (CSR) of private sector.
This document outlines a strategic blueprint for achieving Liberia's Vision 2030 of becoming a middle-income country. It identifies trust and transparency as core cultural issues critical to the vision's success. The strategy proposes combining business and military strategy models. It involves setting strategic goals in key areas like governance and establishing measurable action plans with timelines and mottos to guide implementation over multiple phases from 2013 to 2030. Ensuring the strategy aligns with and strengthens Liberia's core culture of purpose, philosophy and priority of trust is emphasized as critical.
The document discusses ways to engage Ghanaian diaspora youth in Ghana's development. It notes that while Ghana recognizes the potential contributions of its diaspora, initiatives to engage youth are lacking. Surveys found that diaspora youth are interested in volunteering, education, enterprise and investment opportunities in Ghana. However, barriers like lack of information, bureaucracy, cost of volunteering, and a top-down approach prevent their involvement. The document recommends establishing formal volunteering programs, investment platforms, and partnerships to actively engage diaspora youth.
Africa c review meeting on beijing+20 at uneca for africa in addis ababa, eth...Dr Lendy Spires
The document summarizes a meeting of 190 civil society organizations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to discuss progress on implementing the Beijing Platform for Action from the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women. The meeting aimed to review progress made in the past 20 years, validate a draft CSO shadow report, prepare an advocacy position statement, and develop strategies for financing sustainable development and advocating for women's rights. Participants discussed ensuring women's rights and gender equality are integrated into post-2015 development and financing for development processes from a feminist perspective.
Visa launched a financial literacy campaign in the United Arab Emirates, entitled My Money Skills, to target young people as agents of change to build a generation that is financial literate and empowered to make sound financial decisions based on a solid understanding of resources available to them.
This document discusses financial inclusion in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. It defines financial inclusion as access to affordable and usable financial services. The importance of financial inclusion is discussed, including its role in job creation, poverty alleviation, and boosting incomes. While financial inclusion can help the poor and small businesses, the literature suggests governments in the Middle East are not doing enough to increase uptake of financial services through education campaigns. The document will examine prevalence of banking, loans, and mobile banking in Saudi Arabia in 2017.
This document discusses the relationship between microfinance and education. It explains that microfinance can help break the cycle of poverty and poor education by providing families with better income to afford sending more children to school. Microfinance institutions also provide financial education to improve money management skills. The document presents a case study of an MFI in India that is considering introducing education loans. It concludes that while providing education with microfinance can have benefits, it also involves tradeoffs in terms of costs and time for loan officers.
South Africa is coordinating and integrating its aid and development cooperation activities in establishing the South African Development Partnership Agency (SADPA). With a projected annual budget of R500 million (approximately US$ 50 million) South Africa has the resources to achieve measurable impact on the African continent, although the size of its budget and its technical resources are smaller than those of many traditional donors.
If South Africa is to be comparatively effective, SADPA will need to deliberate on how to position itself in relation to traditional donors, emerging development partners, as well as the national structures set up to co-ordinate incoming aid at country level (hereafter referred to as national aid architectures). These institutions increasingly dominate the aid decision-making and negotiation (dialogue) space. South Africa’s vantage point (as an African country with common experiences and a common African agenda that affords it legitimacy and, therefore, access to the region) enables it to have a partnership-based approach.
This allows it to intervene in what are often sensitive areas, including peace support operations and mediation. South Africa’s success as a development partner will depend on SADPA capitalising on peacebuilding activities and post-conflict development interventions in a strategic manner that differentiates it from other players in this arena. South Africa has already engaged in peacebuilding and development activities in many African countries. In 2013, Cheryl Hendricks and Amanda Lucey, on behalf of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), reviewed the impact of South Africa’s programming in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and South Sudan in a study called ‘Enhancing South Africa’s post-conflict development and peacebuilding activity in Africa’.
The results show that South Africa has a number of comparative advantages, as well as notable successes. However, South Africa also faces implementation and policy challenges, some of which are shared by other development partners and donors. This paper contends that South Africa is yet to comprehensively engage with national aid architectures and is thus only tangentially part of the aid effectiveness debates and policy dialogue – especially at partner country level. There are evident opportunities to improve programming in coordination with and complementary to traditional and other emerging donors and development partners.
As an emerging development partner, South Africa has interesting opportunities to develop its own capacities by gathering lessons learnt and best practices from other international actors in similar situations. South Africa can also benefit from engaging in aid architectures as a means of sharing best practices, gaining influence and visibility and improving its capacity.
The 28th African Union Summit declared “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through investments in youth” as its theme, which connects the “Agenda 2063” that offers a comprehensive development vision for Africa. Regardless, African youth faces numerous challenges and opportunities in the fields of skills training, technology, entrepreneurship, agribusiness, advocacy, and political involvement. Hopes that Africa’s dramatic population bulge may create prosperity seem to have been overdone. It is time for development economists to look beyond the stylized facts to the dire realities of Africa’s frustrated youth and burgeoning informal economies. Although development economists talk about a demographic dividend for the continent of Africa, however, what the continent has now is not a ‘dividend’ but a youth population ‘bulge’.
https://crimsonpublishers.com/mcda/fulltext/MCDA.000579.php
For more open access journals in Crimson Publishers please click on link: https://crimsonpublishers.com
For more articles on journal of agronomy and crop science please click on below link: https://crimsonpublishers.com/mcda/
The document is the 2014 annual report of CEFoRD (Center for Empowering Children and Youth Rights Development). It summarizes CEFoRD's activities in 2014, including implementing 4 projects focused on governance, youth participation, and children's rights. It provides an overview of CEFoRD's organizational focus on issues like governance, child protection, and gender-based violence. The report also describes CEFoRD's efforts to strengthen its organizational capacity through trainings and hiring consultants. Overall, it outlines CEFoRD's programming and achievements in 2014.
This document provides biographical and professional details about Luvozi Mjayezi. It summarizes that he is currently the CEO of Ilizwe Start-ups Enterprise Network and Director of Umphakathi Sports and Culture Agency. His roles aim to facilitate community development through youth programs involving sports, arts, and culture. The document also lists his previous positions as a teacher assistant and rugby coach, as well as details about his education and achievements.
Dr. Shabbir Hussain presented at an international conference on Islamic microfinance. He analyzed the outreach of various microfinance models globally and in South Asia. Islamic microfinance has reached 380,000 borrowers across 14 countries, with Bangladesh having the largest outreach of over 100,000 borrowers. However, Islamic microfinance still only represents about 1% of the microfinance market. In Pakistan, over 1.85 million borrowers are currently served by microfinance institutions, though an estimated 27.7 million need access to microcredit. Overall, Islamic microfinance shows potential but still needs to expand its outreach significantly.
The document is the 2019 Africa Visa Openness Index report published by the African Union and African Development Bank. It measures how open African countries are to visitors from other African nations by examining visa requirements. The report found that 47 countries improved or maintained their visa openness scores in 2019. For the first time, Africans now have liberal access to 51% of the continent, up from only 20% in 2016. Countries with more open visa policies tend to see greater foreign investment and economic growth. While progress has been made, more work remains to fully achieve the goal of free movement of people across Africa as outlined in the African Union's Agenda 2063.
13 Economic Priorities For FY13-14 - MSLGROUP IndiaAshraf Engineer
Put together over a period of two months, the report looks at how issues like internal security, the lack of security for women, our callous approach towards sports, etc, impact the economy. The effort is to discuss the impact of issues that most people don't normally associate with the economy.
Africa is home to some of the fast growing countries in the world, a wealth continent full of minerals, abundant human resources and opportunities. At the same time, poverty, underdevelopment, insecurity, infrastructure and talent gaps are high. With 54 independent States and a population of over 1.1 billion inhabitants, Africa economic growth is a paradox story. From the desert in the North through the rich mineral belts of the coastal lines and tourism savannah in Kenya to the dense equatorial forests of Congo basin, Africa’s old dilemma stays the same. The question remains, how can a continent gifted and endowed with the World’s most envied, high in demand and profitable natural resources, abundant and cheap labour market, vast arable land, tourism opportunities and favourable climate said to be the poorest?
Is impact investing gaining grounds in africa with a bark or bite...by arrey ...ivo arrey
This article explores modern trends towards impact investing in Africa. It touches on positive windows for the instrument while highlighting major challenges and the way forward. It is based on academic research/literature and field work by the African Centre for Community and Development.
Author: Arrey Mbongaya Ivo
The document discusses the importance of youth in society and addressing youth unemployment in Africa, specifically in Kenya. It notes that youth unemployment has reached crisis levels, especially due to the global economic recession, and that Kenya faces a particularly serious problem with youth unemployment. It argues that solutions include reforming education to focus on skills employers need, expanding access to higher education, developing small and medium businesses, and improving infrastructure and reducing corruption.
Foresight africa 2014 the brookings institution - africa growth initiativeasafeiran
A top priority for African policymakers in 2014 should be addressing youth unemployment by promoting employment opportunities for the over 14 million young people entering the workforce annually. Strategies must target both rural and urban youth to account for Africa's diverse economies. In rural areas, policies should focus on boosting agricultural productivity through investments in irrigation, seeds and fertilizer. In urban centers, vocational training programs and improved access to capital for small businesses are needed. Cross-cutting initiatives like expanding infrastructure and girls' education can also create jobs and support broader economic growth. Overall, African governments require better employment data to effectively tackle youth unemployment.
This strategic plan summarizes Wezesha's history, achievements, vision, values and strategic goals for 2015-2019. Wezesha was established in 2010 by members of the African diaspora in Ireland to empower African women and children affected by conflict, violence and poverty. It has programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya.
Over the next five years, Wezesha aims to: 1) improve organizational development through better communication, fundraising and capacity building, 2) raise awareness of issues like gender-based violence, poverty, and migration through advocacy and supporting affected groups, and 3) promote community development through partnerships to address these issues at the local level. The plan outlines Wezesha's approach and three strategic
This document provides an overview of an upcoming investment forum called "Invest Sierra Leone 2016" that will take place on May 5th in London. Some key details:
- The forum aims to encourage investment in Sierra Leone and identify innovative investment approaches. It will include panels with government ministers, business leaders, and financiers.
- Confirmed panelists include Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister and Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone.
- The context will be provided by the guide "Sierra Leone: An Investor Guide" produced by Herbert Smith Freehills, Standard Chartered, and Prudential plc.
- The event will be followed by a screening of the trailer
This paper considers that the most challenging needs facing the development of Microentrepreneurship, are the need to develop innovative socially-oriented banks that care about the ―unbankable‖ segment of the society. Family Bank is considered to be one of the ―social businesses‖ which are based entirely upon the partnership as well as social corporate responsibility (CSR) of private sector.
This document outlines a strategic blueprint for achieving Liberia's Vision 2030 of becoming a middle-income country. It identifies trust and transparency as core cultural issues critical to the vision's success. The strategy proposes combining business and military strategy models. It involves setting strategic goals in key areas like governance and establishing measurable action plans with timelines and mottos to guide implementation over multiple phases from 2013 to 2030. Ensuring the strategy aligns with and strengthens Liberia's core culture of purpose, philosophy and priority of trust is emphasized as critical.
The document discusses ways to engage Ghanaian diaspora youth in Ghana's development. It notes that while Ghana recognizes the potential contributions of its diaspora, initiatives to engage youth are lacking. Surveys found that diaspora youth are interested in volunteering, education, enterprise and investment opportunities in Ghana. However, barriers like lack of information, bureaucracy, cost of volunteering, and a top-down approach prevent their involvement. The document recommends establishing formal volunteering programs, investment platforms, and partnerships to actively engage diaspora youth.
Africa c review meeting on beijing+20 at uneca for africa in addis ababa, eth...Dr Lendy Spires
The document summarizes a meeting of 190 civil society organizations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to discuss progress on implementing the Beijing Platform for Action from the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women. The meeting aimed to review progress made in the past 20 years, validate a draft CSO shadow report, prepare an advocacy position statement, and develop strategies for financing sustainable development and advocating for women's rights. Participants discussed ensuring women's rights and gender equality are integrated into post-2015 development and financing for development processes from a feminist perspective.
Visa launched a financial literacy campaign in the United Arab Emirates, entitled My Money Skills, to target young people as agents of change to build a generation that is financial literate and empowered to make sound financial decisions based on a solid understanding of resources available to them.
This document discusses financial inclusion in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. It defines financial inclusion as access to affordable and usable financial services. The importance of financial inclusion is discussed, including its role in job creation, poverty alleviation, and boosting incomes. While financial inclusion can help the poor and small businesses, the literature suggests governments in the Middle East are not doing enough to increase uptake of financial services through education campaigns. The document will examine prevalence of banking, loans, and mobile banking in Saudi Arabia in 2017.
This document discusses the challenges young people face in accessing financial services globally, particularly in developing countries. It notes that less than 5% of youth have savings accounts due to barriers like lack of youth-friendly regulations and products. The UN is working to promote youth financial inclusion through programs that provide financial literacy training and help open over 110,000 savings accounts. Moving forward, a multi-stakeholder approach is needed involving governments, organizations and youth themselves to develop inclusive policies and appropriate services to overcome barriers facing young people.
Young people in developing countries face significant challenges transitioning to adulthood due to high unemployment, HIV/AIDS orphaning many youth, and lack of opportunities. This is exacerbated by the unprecedented population growth over the next 20 years in these regions. Providing youth access to financial services and financial literacy training can help them build assets, start businesses, and escape poverty by making their own economic decisions. However, less than 5% of youth currently have savings accounts due to barriers like lack of youth-friendly financial products and low financial capability. The UN is working to increase financial inclusion of youth through programs and partnerships focused on developing tailored financial services, integrating financial education into curricula, and advocating for youth-inclusive policies and regulatory
This document discusses the challenges young people face in accessing financial services globally, especially in developing countries. It notes that less than 5% of youth have savings accounts due to barriers like lack of youth-friendly regulations and products. The UN is working to promote youth financial inclusion through programs that provide financial literacy training and help open over 110,000 savings accounts. Moving forward, a multi-stakeholder approach is needed involving governments, organizations and youth themselves to develop inclusive policies and appropriate services to overcome barriers facing young people.
International Financial Institutions, Middle East, North Africa a primer for ...Dr Lendy Spires
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Date: May 29, 2024
Tags: Information Security, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 42001, Artificial Intelligence, GDPR
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VISA My Money Skills - Executive Summary
1. Running head: Executive Summary – Visa: My Money Skills 1
Executive Summary:
Visa: My Money Skills Campaign
Team 4, UAE:
Maria Espinoza,
Timothy “Chip” Lowe
Isabella El Sheikh
PUR 4404 C
Deanna Pelfrey
University of Florida
2. Executive Summary – Visa: My Money Skills 2
A. Situation Analysis
While the UAE has been highly commercially successful despite its relatively new
establishment as a nation, research from the Genesis Institute indicates that Emiratis aren’t fluent
in the language of money – that is, they don’t have the financial literacy skills necessary to
manage this newfound wealth. (Maceda, 2014). The ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth
Survey, which evaluates the attitudes of Arab youth in six Gulf Cooperation Council states,
including the UAE, found that nearly 70 percent of those surveyed are “very concerned” about
the rising cost of living, unemployment and the economy. The same survey indicates that there
has been a 10 percent increase in the survey respondents’ desired country to live in from 2013 to
2014 in favor of the UAE (“Arab Youth Survey,” 2014). And these concerns are understandable,
considering the 2010 survey indicated that 70 percent of Emirati young adults are in debt
(Glover, 2012). These reports present a state of young people eager to better their country and
responsive to new and changing economic environments.
Visa capitalized on the opportunity to engage young citizens in the UAE with regard to
financial literacy. As part of Visa’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment, the
company has recognized it has the responsibility and opportunity to affect change in a huge
number of consumer’s lives. According to Visa’s 2012 Financial Literacy Programmes
overview, their guiding principle is to “provide economic empowerment to consumers who use
[their] products or services.” The company has been committed to financial literacy commitment
and has been actively engaging consumers worldwide for over a decade with this CSR objective.
Therefore, the need for Emirati financial literacy education expansion met hand in hand with
Visa’s desire to expand their CSR to the Middle East region.
The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates, which is a territory or state
under the jurisdiction of an emir. The UAE became independent in 1971, and its capital, Abu
Dhabi, is one of the centers of commercial and cultural activities and is the largest and most
prosperous emirate.
The largest public relations association in the Middle East is know as the Middle East
Public Relations Association. It was launched in 2001 and was officially licensed by the
government in 2002. Most of the largest professional agencies have their headquarters in Dubai.
Outside Abu Dhabi and Dubai, practices are less professional due to the scarcity of skilled and
trained professionals, even though there is a very high demand for skilled professionals. The
Internet is a very large and resourceful tool for public relations practitioners in the UAE. The
study of public relations in the UAE is starting to produce skilled professionals with their
educational facilities growing and developing.
Public relations in the Middle East has been influenced by the development of media and
growth of the hospitality and tourism business sectors. When working with the media, gifts and
other contributions to media professionals in exchange for positive editorial coverage is almost
expected and the practice of publishing news releases word for word is customary.
The government plays a very crucial role in the production of the media in this region.
The constitution in the UAE provides for freedom of speech but the government uses its judicial,
3. Executive Summary – Visa: My Money Skills 3
legislative and executive powers to limit those rights. UAE Federal Law No. 15 authorizes the
state to censor both domestic and foreign publications prior to distribution, and prohibits
criticism of the government, rulers and ruling families, and friendly foreign governments. The
media is completely owned by the government, with the exception of a few privately owned
newspapers and radio stations. Because of this, the media relies heavily on advertisements and
sponsorships to keep revenue flowing.
Reports tend to automatically self-censor what they produce because of the limitations by
the government They generally tend to avoid topics including the ruling family, Islam, national
security, the government, current policies in place, religion and relationships with neighboring
states. This gives little room for creative media stories. In 2012 the government even increased
its efforts to silence the media and started arresting bloggers and activists who went against their
guidelines and regulations.
The UAE is high-context culture. Being a country with high-context communication
means that there is an emphasis on personal relationships, an unwillingness to say, “No” the
power of words, politeness and indirectness. The Arab culture in general emphasizes personal
relationships and interdependence, and therefore group members in the nations are on the same
level of understanding. A focus on the interpersonal relations mean there is often more of an
emphasis on what someone wants to hear rather than on directness and honestly. This is due to
the fact that families have lived in the same communities in the UAE for centuries and so they
believe it is important to not offend another person or their family. Politeness is an important
characteristic of Arabs. They believe in always treating another person, especially guests, with
the utmost respect and courtesy,
Arabs are said to value the elegance of the spoken word. It is said that they have a love
affair with language and place a great emphasis on the importance of words. Arabs use a lot of
hand gestures and speak loudly with emotion. Shouting is believed to denote ultimate sincerity.
They are also big fans of praise, except to Arab women.
The UAE scored a 69 on the Corruption Perceptions Index. The scale ranges from 0 to
100, with 100 indicating that the country is perceived as very clean and not corrupt. According to
the corruption perception index of 2013, the UAE falls within the one-third of total countries that
score over 50, meaning they are less corrupt and serve as a reminder that there is very little abuse
of power, secret dealings and bribery that go on within this country. This entails that Visa can,
not only safely proceed with business in this region of the world, but also honestly go on with the
work that is being done. Being a company that deals primarily with payment processing, it is
extremely important to be able to trust one’s clients in their endeavors.
UAEInteract cites that the UAE economy is thriving and the country is blossoming with
opportunities for business to do well in this region. The site explains that there are low import
duties, there are no restrictions on profit transfer to capital repatriation, minimal financial risk
and labor costs are competitive. This information supports the perceived CPI and supports Visa’s
success in this country.
4. Executive Summary – Visa: My Money Skills 4
B. Primary Publics/Audiences
Visa identified their primary audience as young students throughout the UAE. By
working through education institutions to launch the campaign, Visa successfully connected with
their intended audience and properly limited the scope and access to the intended audience for
the financial literacy tools.
Visa piloted the program with three school and summer schools in the UAE in the 2012-
2013 school year. The company developed a toolkit to provide to educators at the institutions
participating in both Arabic and English. In order to ensure that teachers acting as program
coordinators were familiar with the skills and Visa-compiled materials, the company hosted
regional workshops to familiarize them with the campaign (“Visa: Financial Literacy
Campaign,” 2012). It was important that Visa took the time to localize the program the UAE and
also held workshops and utilized the feedback from those workshops to improve the program in
the future.
C. Overview of the Campaign
Visa brought its successful My Money Skills campaign to the Middle East region,
premiering in the UAE. Visa’s financial literacy CSR goals are: (1) “[To] empower positive
economic growth for individuals, businesses and countries.” (2) “[To] provide free, relevant,
accessible and innovative financial education to individuals and their communities.” (3) “[To]
facilitate entrance into the banking system for the unbanked. And (4) “[To] reach 20 million
people globally by May 1, 2013” (“Visa: Financial Literacy Campaign,” 2012).
To achieve these goals internationally, Visa set forth some general tactics in their
worldwide campaign overview. These include “[running] a global financial literacy initiative that
is localised for each country, allowing for customisation based on an area’s level of economic
development, cultural standards, education needs, government priorities and target audiences;
personal finance message and mediums tailored for each region; and third party partners [such as
governments, schools, banks and NGOs that] are actively engaged to improve reach, awareness
and impact of educational programmes” (“Visa: Financial Literacy Campaign,” 2012).
The campaign facilitated working with educational institutions and teachers in the
Emirates to develop location-specific financial literacy teaching tools. The financial literacy
program was then integrated into school curriculums. Visa created education websites, in both
Arabic and English, that teaches finical basics such as budgeting, saving, bank account
management, using cards wisely, online shopping precautions against fraud and preparing for the
future. Visa also initiated an educational video game called Financial Football, which was first
launched in the Middle East. Visa featured a free FIFA World Cup video game on their My
Money Skills website, that was designed to help people of all ages strengthen their knowledge of
personal finance. Financial Football is a fast-paced educational video game that tests players’
knowledge of financial management skills as they advance down field and try to score goals.
Visa evaluates their worldwide efforts, and in regards to this campaign in the UAE, they
sought feedback from the institutions and teachers that participated in its implementation.
5. Executive Summary – Visa: My Money Skills 5
D. Implementation
Visa launched the My Money Skills campaign website, their major online hub for the
campaign, in both Arabic and English in the UAE. The website features budgeting, saving, bank
account management, using credit cards wisely, online shopping precautions against fraud and
proper preparation for the future. One of the most resourceful tabs is Education under Life
Events. This specific section includes a personal finance “crash course” for all ages on being
money smart for making better decisions. The section, entitled a “Practical Guide to Financial
Literacy,” includes five lessons, quizzes after each lesson (with an answer key at the end of the
document) and a glossary of financial terms. The campaign site is filled with fact sheets and
FAQs on finances. The site was created to easily navigate around into educational programming
from financial advice to calculations already set up for the user. Educational games through the
site test the user’s knowledge in finances, including interactive quiz shows and soccer games. All
these educational materials are provided to target Visa’s primary audience, students and
consumers handling financial decisions.
Visa’s global presence throughout social media websites includes Facebook and
YouTube. Visa’s Middle East Facebook covers the most current events around the region, while
Visa Financial Football provides visual credibility of the campaign through photographs and
video of students in the schools the game was implemented in. Visa hosted a Facebook poll,
gaining 19 votes in total, all of who agreed on the need of children being taught money
management skills at schools. On YouTube, one can find members of the campaign providing
informative advice, educational lessons and info on the Financial Football game.
Press releases of the financial literacy summit at which the campaign was launched were
handled by DABO & Co. These were disseminated through the Visa CEMEA region website and
to appropriate media. The National, a newspaper in the region, ran an article with detailed
information about the pilot year. Other components of the campaign included a planned National
Financial Literacy Day and regional roadshows in shopping malls. In 2012, Visa and the
Financial Times hosted a series of Financial Literacy Forums. This was the third to be held in
Dubai, stressing the importance to promote financial education in emerging wealthy economies
like the UAE.
Teachers were identified as a secondary audience in the campaign. Visa created materials
branded with a financial wizard called SuperCal, or Mahsoobak in Arabic, and a dual-language
Financial Literacy Toolkit to show students that it is fun and clever to be financially literate.
The Circuit of Culture
Visa’s My Money Skills campaign in the UAE goes through the five moments of the
circuit of culture. The My Money Skills website creates a base of representation for all the
educational programming information for students and consumers. The campaign produced
educational materials provided in curriculum form given to professional educators and teachers.
The dual language Financial Literacy Teacher Toolkit and financial wizard helped teachers
tackle the subject with confidence in a classroom environment. In addition to other materials, the
6. Executive Summary – Visa: My Money Skills 6
interactive games and practical guides to financial literacy test the targeted audience on financial
knowledge. They are able to continue practicing financial knowledge by playing the Financial
Football video game and participating through online quiz shows. Students learning on financial
literacy are Visa’s future customers. For Visa to continue to be successful, it is to the company’s
benefit to teach future consumers of being financial literate when they use Visa’s services.
E. Evaluation of the Campaign
The UAE campaign reach over 76,000 people during the first six-month launch period,
according to the case study conducted by DABO & Co. This includes 70,000 unique website
views and 6,000 financial football games and brochures distributed amongst teacher and
students. The campaign was also featured in over a dozen full or double-page spreads across 16
publications in the UAE, Kuwait and KSA.
After looking at what Visa has been able to accomplish after just one school year cycle,
this launch has been an incredibly successful expansion of their CSR to the UAE. The DABO &
Co report estimates the PR value of the campaign at nearly $1.5 million.
As Visa looks to continue this CSR in the region, critics may push for more inclusion of
banks and other educational institutions in the region. Looking at Visa’s implementation of the
inaugural year of the campaign, there doesn’t appear to be any inhibitors that would prevent the
company from expanding the program to as many organizations as want to participate and help
them carry forward one of their key organizational responsibilities.
F. Conclusion
Visa was extremely successful in localizing and implementing this CSR campaign the
UAE because it completed its due diligence and respected the culture in which it already had a
business practice. Visa is a known and respected brand worldwide, and the stewardship it has
already taken to develop its company in the region undoubtedly paved the way for the huge
success they had with this inaugural campaign in the country.
The lessons learned from the study of this campaign could be summed up in stating that
to successfully expand a CSR campaign to a new region, one must truly comprehend the nation
or area, being respectful of cultural and business practices there. In order to maximize efforts,
having a brand presence in the region is preferable. And finally, ensure that the CSR campaign
matches the social efforts the company is truly passionate and engaged in. Following these steps
learned form the Visa implementation lead any organization or agency off to a viable start.
7. Executive Summary – Visa: My Money Skills 7
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youth-survey-2014-whitepaper
Glover, F. (2012, June 22). Emirati youth the focus for smart money skills. The National.
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youth-the-focus-for-smart-money-skills
Maceda, C. (2014, May 20). UAE consumers need to invest in financial literacy. Gulf News.
Retrieved October 26, 2014, from http://gulfnews.com/business/general/uae-consumers-
need-to-invest-in-financial-literacy-1.1335789
Practical Guide to Financial Literacy. (n.d.). My Money Skills. Retrieved October 26, 2014, from
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