The University of Guyana (UG) has rekindled its “Money Week” programme as it seeks to promote financial intelligence among citizens. In partnership with the Jamaica Stock Exchange and numerous local partners, UG is hosting a three-day event that will allow citizens to interact with some leading financial experts in the areas of financial planning, investments, and business development.
Participants will also get the opportunity to learn about developments in digital finance, the way people interact with financial services online, and the increasing use of artificial intelligence.
Money Week 2025, themed “Building your financial future, dollar by dollar”, is part of an awareness campaign aimed at ensuring citizens acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to make sound financial decisions and ultimately achieve financial success and financial resilience.
UG Vice Chancellor, Professor Paloma Mohamed Martin, in her opening statement, highlighted several ways persons would be able to benefit from the three-day programme, including their interaction with persons involved in business and hearing their stories to find out what they did to get to where they are.
“The wonderful thing about it is that you can ask them questions, face-to-face, in person, so that you can get a first-hand sense of what you need to do, and what you need to learn. We also have some films on things like Bitcoin. And cryptocurrency, and how that really works, and how we need to prepare as a nation… How it affects the economy, etc. So these are futuristic and present things. And then we also have some very, very practical workshops.”
These workshops involve people, for instance, learning how to use their mobile phones to make marketing materials, videos, how to market on social media, and so on. Additionally, she continued, participants will be able to network and connect with relevant sources.
Chief Investment Officer and Head of the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest), Dr Peter Ramsaroop, said the event is timely given the direction Guyana is heading. Guyana is a hive of economic activities, and citizens need to follow the government’s budget to better position themselves.
“So, there are many, many concepts that, if you’re an economics student, or you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve got to follow the money. If you follow the money, you will make money. And following the money, study the budget; listen to the vision and strategy. We’ve got a stable macroeconomic economy. This is why we will continue to lead the region, we will continue to develop. In the developed world, Guyana will always be at the table when it comes to energy, when it comes to food security, when it comes to climate security, when it comes to biodiversity. We will be at the table. How do you get that to the table in making money? And that’s what I hope you get out of this conference for the next few days.”
Other presenters included the Dean of the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, Professor Leland Lucas; President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Vice Chair of the Private Sector Commission, Kathy Smith; and DDL Chairman, Komal Samaroo, among others.
The three-day event will end on Thursday, June 5.
