Capital market guide for visually impaired unveiled

THE Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe (SecZim) has launched a ground-breaking Braille language version of Investment 101, a capital market handbook sponsored by the Investor Protection Fund (IPF).

Titled The Braille Capital Market Handbook, the publication carries information on the basics and essentials of Zimbabwe’s capital market.

Falling under the Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) 2, thematic working group deliverables, the Braille Capital Market Handbook aims to raise financial literacy and capital market awareness among the visually impaired and the deaf.

This will ensure that no one is left behind in understanding and participating in the capital market.

The handbook will achieve several outcomes, including enhanced capital markets awareness, improved financial decision-making, increased participation in the capital markets, deepening financial inclusion, and a capital market awareness of at least five percent by the end of 2026.

One of the key challenges identified by SECZim is the low awareness of the capital market in Zimbabwe, which is estimated at two percent.

This lack of capital market knowledge among Zimbabweans is considered a hindrance to current and future engagement with the capital market.

As such, SECZim’s objective is to raise capital market awareness through collaborative efforts with key stakeholders, through the Braille development as well as the ongoing #MySchool/#MyCommunity outreach programmes.

Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, permanent secretary Mr George Guvamatanga, in a speech delivered on his behalf by the ministry’s director responsible for the financial sector, Mrs Judith Rusike, said the Braille handbook was aimed at providing access to capital market information for a demographic that has traditionally been marginalized and overlooked.

“Inclusive growth is one of the underpinnings of the National Development Strategy (NDS) 1 and the launch of the Braille handbook seeks to bring capital market information to a sector which is largely excluded at the moment, our citizens who have various disabilities including the blind,” said Mrs Rusike.

Weighing in on the launch, SECZim chief executive officer Mr Anymore Taruvinga said the commission created educational material about capital markets to ensure that individuals who are visually impaired or deaf could access information and participate in wealth creation through investing.

“Under the banner of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) 2 and cognisant of the objectives of persons with disabilities thematic working group, the commission has therefore developed capital market awareness material to enable the visually impaired and the deaf to invest, participate in wealth creation and contribute to sustainable economic development,” said Mr Taruvinga.

In line with the National Disability Policy (NDP) Zimbabwe, introduced in June 2021, the national director for disability affairs in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Dr Christine Peta, said persons with disabilities should be provided with personalised support to ensure that they have access to effective education.

Dr Peta said this support should be tailored to maximise their academic and social development, taking into consideration the specific needs of learners who are blind, deaf, or deaf-blind.

“Persons with disabilities must receive the individual support they require to facilitate their effective education, in environments that maximise academic and social development including that of blind, deaf or deafblind learners.

The education of learners who are blind, deaf or deafblind must be delivered in the most appropriate languages and modes and means of communication for the individual.”

Given that the project is pioneering, for implementation, among other activities, a trainer workshop is essential to empower resource persons to take the material through its paces and ensure the sustainability of this intervention.

SECZim said it will continue to work closely with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s Curriculum Development Unit, as well as the Ministry for Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, for guidance and to ensure material integrity and to scale up outreach efforts.-herald