Over 3,000 people in the Vanimo-Green District of West Sepik Province have been certified in basic financial literacy under the donor sponsored Microfinance Expansion Project (MEP).
Implemented by the Bank of PNG, 3,005 locals from across the four LLGs and wards of the district underwent a savings and budgeting module which will enable them to make wiser choices with their finances.
A graduation ceremony was held in Vanimo Town and was attended by Bank of PNG representatives, the Centre for Excellence in Financial Inclusion (CEFI), stakeholders from the finance and banking sector and the provincial government.
Project director of the MEP, George Awap, congratulated the Vanimo locals on their achievement.
However, he stressed that the onus was now on them to implement the training they have received.
“You are receiving a certificate in financial literacy training. It depends on yourself how you are going to utilise that certificate. Will it translate into something or not, depends on the decisions you take today.”
Senior business development officer of the Sandaun Provincial Administration concurred and said if the locals utilise the training, they will see the benefits.
The MEP was designed and launched in April 2012 to increase financial inclusion in PNG by improving people’s knowledge of and access to financial services.
Under the project, over 190,000 have received financial literacy education, surpassing the target of 130,000 people across the country by the end of 2017.
40 percent of the trainees include women.
The project also supports partner financial institutions in their efforts to roll out appropriate financial services.
CEFI was incorporated as part of the project’s outputs and is the main agency for coordinating financial inclusion and financial education initiatives in PNG.