WanaData South Africa: Personal Financial Literacy
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By Emma Kisa and Rose Kwamboka
The WanaData South Africa virtual meetup occurred on 23 February and focused on Personal Financial Literacy. The session was led by Code for Africa’s Senior Product Manager, Nduku Kiteng’e, who kicked off the meetup by asking the audience to rate their level of financial literacy on a scale.
This simple but effective exercise set the stage for the discussion that followed, which centred around an individual’s money personality.
Nduku explained that there are two types of people when it comes to managing money: those who have more months than money and those who have more money than months. By categorising people this way, she demonstrated the importance of understanding one’s financial situation and taking steps to improve it.
One of the key takeaways from the session was the importance of putting a figure into your financial goals. Nduku noted that many people have goals but need to attach a specific number to them, making achieving them challenging. By putting a concrete figure to your financial goals, you can create a plan of action and work towards achieving them.
Another session highlight was that people should have their money working for them. Nduku emphasised the importance of investing and finding ways to generate passive income, which can help to build wealth over time.
Throughout the session, Nduku demystified personal finances and provided practical advice on increasing income and reducing costs. By breaking down complex financial concepts into simple terms, she made it easier for the audience to understand how to take control of their finances.
Nduku’s parting shot was: “Forgive yourself quickly and move on because you will FAIL!” She reminded the audience that financial success is not about perfection but about learning from mistakes and moving forward.
Overall, the session left the audience feeling inspired and motivated to take charge of their finances. By providing practical tips and demystifying personal finance, Nduku helped to empower the audience to take intentional control of their financial lives.
WanaData East Africa: Telling Impactful Development Stories
On February 23, 2023, the WanaData East Africa community gathered for its monthly edition focussing on How to Tell Impactful Development Stories. Paul Amisi, a journalist and Code for Africa’s copy editor, was the main speaker at the event and guided the community on the importance of data in telling impactful development stories.
Amisi explained that for a story to have an impact, it needs to fulfil the following three conditions:
- It should demonstrate a tangible and measurable problem, such as health outcomes or access to education.
- It should inspire others and serve as a model for effective development practices.
- It should communicate a message of hope, perseverance, and the potential for positive change.
The speaker emphasised that data plays a crucial role in meeting the first criterion. By providing objective evidence that a particular issue exists, analysing the data can help to identify patterns, trends, and potential causes of the problem. This information can then be used to develop targeted solutions and measure progress over time, making the story more credible, transparent, and compelling.
Moreover, Amisi outlined the structure of an impact development story and gave examples of such stories that have received recognition and won awards. One such story was about getting a grip on counterfeit medicine in Kenya, which resulted in removing counterfeit medicine from pharmacies in Kenya.
Finally, Amisi showcased several no-code tools for retrieving credible data and analysing and visualising data, including PesaYetu, Google Datasets, and openAFRICA. Amisi inspired the audience to use data to tell impactful development stories by providing practical examples and tools. The session left the audience feeling empowered to create and tell stories that make a positive impact.
WanaData aims to turbo-boost the careers of African women, contributing to their socio-economic empowerment by liberating gender data, amplifying their voices through data journalism and fast-tracking their careers by deepening expertise in tech, data science, journalism and networking.
The network is active in seven countries (Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda). In each country, we organise monthly meetups to share skills, and experiences, brainstorm on projects or campaigns and kickstart collaborations.
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