Coordinated approach critical to financial education for entrepreneurs – Experts

Financial experts have said that a coordinated and integrated approach is critical in the provision of financial education for entrepreneurs.

The experts spoke at a roundtable recently organised by Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and Barclays Bank.

The experts noted that more and better synergies among all players in the financial environment are needed, and it is also important to shift mentalities and develop a real entrepreneurial culture.

The debate was organised to discuss how to deliver more efficient financial and entrepreneurial education and to identify alternative approaches of providing the right skills and services to entrepreneurs.

Among other things the debate revealed that entrepreneurs, who often lack the financial literacy skills required for the complex business decisions they face, need to better understand their financing needs and options, and to be aware of the support and services available to them.

In his opening remarks, Othmar Karas, MEP stressed that “Entrepreneurial spirit and basic economic knowledge needs to be already instilled in children and students. The earlier they learn about debt, savings and credit, the less likely they are to struggle in the future and the more likely they will become active and productive participants of the economy”.

Manos Schizas, Head of SMEs Affairs at ACCA said “The evidence on the effectiveness of financial literacy interventions is clear: success is elusive.

Source: Vanguard