The Financial Services Fund (FSF) organised an award ceremony to reward winners of various contests in the context of the Financial Literacy Project, this morning, in the presence of the Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance, Mr Mahen Kumar Seeruttun, at the Financial Services Commission (FSC) House in Ebène. The Financial Services Fund website, www.harmoney.mu, was also launched on this occasion.
The Chief Executive (CE) of the FSC, Mr Dhanesswurnath Thakoor, and other personalities were present at the ceremony.
Winners of the Competitions:
Creative Art Competition Award
- The grand winner is Appadoo Krishna from Dream Art Academy who was rewarded with a cash prize of Rs 150 000 and a certificate;
- The second prize comprising a cash prize of Rs 100 000 and a certificate was awarded to Gukhoul Shivam Singh of VMG; and
- The third prize went to William Philippe who obtained a cash prize of Rs 75 000 and a certificate.
Mobile App Gaming Competition Award
- The grand winner is Madarboccus Rabill from Dev Maker who was rewarded with a cash prize of Rs 150 000 and a certificate;
- The second prize comprising a cash prize of Rs 100 000 and a certificate was awarded to Marie Jonathan of AR Team; and
- The third prize went to Ramjon Adil Ahmed from Active Learning who obtained a cash prize of Rs 75 000 and a certificate.
Young Talent Competition Award
Category 1- Art Competition
- The grand winner is Chumroo Damini from Professor Basdeo Bissoondoyal College Girls who was awarded a cash prize of Rs 30 000; and
- Runners up, awarded cash prizes of Rs 20 000: Chotoye Haniyyah, Foo Souye Chan Chloe Mathilde and Pallianee Haarinee from Pamplemousses SSS.
Category 2-Thematic Presentation Competition
- The first prize winners are Bharos Tushwanrow, Prayag Gyanesh and Ramsaran Navneet from Rabindranath Tagore Secondary School and were awarded cash prizes of Rs 30 000 each; and
- Runners up who were awarded cash prizes of Rs 20 000 each are: Jownally Djemila, Veerayen Eloise and Elsa Jhundoo from Loreto College of Quatre Bornes.
Category 3- Essay
- The first prize winners are Ghoora Girikshit, Digumber Gyan and Gopesh Kumar Dobee from Royal College of Curepipe and were awarded cash prizes of Rs 30 000 each; and
- Runners up, awarded cash prizes of Rs 20 000: Somauroo Saniyah, Conhye Tarinee and Jehane Muhammad from Queen Elizabeth College.
In his keynote address, Minister Seeruttun highlighted that this award ceremony depicts the spirit of imagination and enterprise alive in classrooms, encompassed by a compelling theme “the integration of Financial Technology in today’s and tomorrow’s world”. Government, he underlined, has a bold Fintech agenda and has been putting in place countless measures and policies aimed at transforming Mauritius into the Fintech Hub of Africa.
On this score, the Minister expressed satisfaction as regards the extent of interest the subject has garnered in schools and colleges as there can be no better place to build the future of Mauritius than in schools. “I am pleased to note by the number of submissions received that YTC’s Creative Art and Mobile App Competitions have attracted a lot of attention,” he observed.
Furthermore, Mr Seeruttun indicated that the objective of YTC is financial literacy and more so, it is laying the foundations and tracks for Financial Sector-led economic development. “YTC is preparing our youth on this journey of financial services excellence, from this perspective, the YTC is an excellent opportunity not only for the youth to gain meaningful exposure to the financial services sector as future consumers but also better understanding on the financial services sector as an important and attractive place to work,” he pointed out.
On this note, the Minister announced that next year, his Ministry and the FSF are planning to be much closer to the youths by namely: organising a series of events to help them embrace a career in the sector and; reaching out in a bigger way to students in Mauritius and Rodrigues through various initiatives including a Financial Literacy Fair, a Job Fair and a series of competitions.
Speaking of the FSF website, Minister Seeruttun encouraged the population to stay tuned on for latest news and future events as this new tool will help ensure that initiatives as regards Financial Services reach out to the population at large because financial literacy is relevant to all segments of our population and at all levels. “The new website is very friendly and aims to become an important companion for the community to understand personal finances at every stage of life, to save better, to invest better and ultimately, to live better,” he informed.
In addition, he announced that YTC has an interesting theme coming next year – Sustainability in Finance. “The Theme of our Financial Literacy initiatives for 2023 will be on Sustainable Finance and the Economic, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations where we will be active in raising consciousness on ESG and taking steps required to pursue a more sustainable journey to transform our sector, our economy and our future,” he said.
For his part, Mr Thakoor reiterated that Financial Literacy is one of the pillars for sound financial services to exist in any country and, under its governing legislation, the Financial Services Act (FSA), the FSC is required to promote public understanding of the financial system including awareness of the benefits and risks associated with different kinds of investment as well as take measures for the better protection of consumers of financial services.
Speaking of the award ceremony, the CE observed for this year’s competition, participation from more than 1 000 students for the three categories of the YTC and 50 participants for the Creative Art and Mobile App Gaming Competitions were registered. “Through these different competitions, we hope to convey the key message as regards Financial Literacy to the general public and the youth,” he stressed.
As regards the FSF website, Mr Thakoor emphasised that for the transmission of Financial Literacy through interactive multimedia, a website is deemed to be one of the best tools to interact and portray messages.
