In an effort to promote financial literacy, the government — through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and Visa Rwanda — have partnered with the transportation industry to sensitise the public on financial issues.

A financial literacy campaign at Remera Bus terminal yesterday. The New Times/John Mbanda.

During the campaign, commuter taxis will distribute 3,000 CDs featuring songs by some of Rwanda’s renowned musicians coupled with financial literacy messages to passengers on Kigali City routes.

Ginger Baker, the Managing Director of Visa Rwanda, said as part of the partnership with the government, Visa is working to bring financial literacy education to Rwanda through a number of communication channels.

“We see financial literacy as a building block towards an empowered society where people are able to make informed decisions around their financial lives,” Baker said.

He added that Visa and the Central bank have committed to improving the country’s electronic payment systems.

“The two-pronged approach is effective in that the public will be entertained while they learn. We specifically chose to couple the Taxi CD launch with the performances because it’s a tried and tested approach to delivering financial literacy messages”.

Using the art of story telling, the performances will take the audience through processes involved in opening a bank account and also addresses matters related to developing a sensible budget.

The financial literacy campaign will run up to the end of this year.

Experts are optimistic that the financial literacy campaign spearheaded by the Central Bank and the individual bank campaigns that are aimed at making the public aware of the electronic payment system will help close the current gaps hindering the rollout of the system.

Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories.

By Fred Ndoli, The New Times