Ghanaian consumers most financially stressed

Out of the four sampled countries, Ghanaian consumers are the most financially stressed.

Other countries with consumers also facing financial stress include Namibia, South Africa, and Kenya.

The report indicated that 64% of Ghanaian consumers are considerably stressed, highlighting that 7 out of 10 working Ghanaians do not use a financial advisor.

This information is according to the 2023 Old Mutual Financial Services Monitor report.

Providing more insights into the report, the Head of Knowledge and Insights at Old Mutual, Vuyokazi Mabude, said, “It has revealed to us something that we have known and some things that are quite new to us. When you are in the market and they are doing certain things, you must always be looking to do things that make sense and are relevant. The study gives us facts, and we can now be able to use those facts by providing solutions to Ghanaians.”

“Together with Ghanaians, we can make a difference. The question is, are the 37% adequately preparing for retirement? We need to find ways of providing advice for them so that they can save adequately for their retirement.”

On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Old Mutual, Tacoma Biza, emphasized the need for market surveillance that offers solutions to the general economic ecosystem.

“We didn’t use COVID-19 as the benchmark for this exercise because of the recessionary environment that has been happening in Ghana in the previous years. What that means is that people actually have less money in their pockets in real terms, and connected to that is the financial stress levels. So unfortunately, this is a statistic that should concern the four countries we surveyed, as they have the most financially stressed consumers across the four countries,” Tacoma Biza said.