Business and Financial journalists must increase their reportage on business and finance especially on mobile money to increase their adoption, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, has suggested.
That, he said, would help promote financial inclusion and help the entire citizenry to leverage the opportunities the innovation presented.
Speaking at the launch of the 8thedition Institute of Economic and Financial Journalists (IFEJ)-Flamingo Awards in Accra on Tuesday, Dr Ashigbey said Information Communication Technology through financial technology had helped to drive financial inclusion through mobile money services.
An initiative of IFEJ, an association of business and financial journalists, the award is to recognise outstanding journalists in the area of business and financial journalism.
This year’s award is on the theme “ICT in Ghana’s Financial Accessibility and Financial Development.”
Dr Ashigbey who delivered the keynote address said technology had helped build an array of financial services with mobile money deployments now available in about 100 countries.
Quoting from the Global System for Mobile Communications Association, he said there were 1.35 billion registered mobile money accounts processing $1 trillion in transactions annually.
In Ghana, DrAshigbey said the story is not different as people continued to send and received money, pay for groceries and school fees and received their salaries.
He commended IFEJ for the role it was playing to equip media houses through training of editors and journalists, with the best of skills and knowledge to effectively report on key economic issues, is much welcome and should be commended.
He said business owners, and consumers and employees had long relied on the news to make financial decisions – what to buy, who to hire, where to invest, what products to sell.
Dr Ashigbey said it was only big businesses and executives who can afford the Harvard Business Review and portals like the Bloomberg Terminals, while most consumers and small business owners were left scrambling to find the news they need to succeed and thrive on free to air radio and television.
“All is not lost as with the right mix of relevant and regular training of editors and journalists can support businesses, owners and employees with the right information, at the right time packaged in a concise, factual and easy to digest manner,” he said.
The President of IFEJ, Rayborn Bulley, said the awards were opened to members of IFEJ in good standing and operating in the areas of radio, television, online and newspaper.
Among the criteria for the awards, he said the business and financial articles for the award should cover the period September 2021 till date.
Mr Bulley entreated members to take advantage of the awards to be recognised for their works.
The President commended the partners who have continued to support the IFEJ-Flamingo Awards.
He said IFEJ was established in 1990 with the support from the World Bank to build the capacity of journalists in business and financial journalists.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
