The ASISA Foundation plays a powerful role in improving saving habits

To underscore the importance of saving, the South African Savings Institute (SASI) has designated July as the annual Savings Month. The ASISA Foundation has a proven track record in significantly improving participants’ awareness and motivation to save through its comprehensive financial literacy programmes.?

The #SavingsMonth initiative is crucial as South Africans urgently need to adopt better saving habits. The decline in household savings continued in late 2023, falling to -1.10% of household income, reflecting a concerning trend in personal financial habits.

Historically, the average personal savings rate from 1960 to 2023 was 4.42% of personal income, peaking at 23.8% in 1972 and hitting a low of -2.40% in 2007. (Source: Statistics South Africa)

All of the Foundation’s financial education programmes comprehensively address basic personal financial knowledge across the various audiences they focus on – workers, small business owners, students and members of cooperatives. Through its various learning approaches, it aims to not only impart financial knowledge and skills, but to bring about lasting behavioural change.

All programmes include a segment on #savings, emphasising that regardless of one’s income, saving and proper debt management is possible.

WageWise

The WageWise programme which focuses on improving workers’ personal financial management and helping them to be financially resilient, has reached over 80 000 workers since its inception in 2015. Independent monitoring and evaluation show every year that Budgeting and Saving emerged as the most remembered topics among participants, reflecting the programme’s impact on financial behaviour.

During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, an additional survey on financial resilience compared the 2017 WageWise cohort with non-participants three years after they attended workshops. The results showed that 87% of WageWise participants were still using practical tools provided during training for better financial management. 54% of participants reported no debt or feeling at ease with their debt levels, in contrast to non-participants.

?A longitudinal impact evaluation of the impact of WageWise from 2022 to 2024 shows that an estimated R1 224 000 was saved by the 204 participants interviewed between baseline and midline. Most participants were saving between R500 and R1,000 per month.

BUILD UP

End results of the BUILD UP programme for agri cooperatives which concluded last year, showed a comprehensive improvement in financial literacy among participants:

• 94% of respondents understands the importance of saving personally
• 92% report that the training has prompted them to think differently about their personal finances
• 90% of participants recognise the importance of budgeting personally
• 82% indicates an improved understanding of the importance of managing personal debt

FLAME

The intensive 18-month-long FLAME programme aims to help micro-business owners grow their businesses into sustainable, profitable enterprises that create employment.

In its latest cohort of 30 entrepreneurs, results from December 2022 to November 2023 were remarkable:

1. Business profits nearly doubled, rising from approximately R3,800 per month to about R6,800.
2. Participants collectively saved:

• Personal savings: R196,000
• Business savings: R266,000

L+EARN #BIZ

Statistics from the L+EARN #SecureTheBag programme aimed at students at universities and TVET colleges in 2022 revealed that 73% of participants significantly improved their money management skills after completing the programme. This demonstrates the programme’s effectiveness in equipping young adults with practical financial strategies and habits that support their financial independence and stability.

The outcomes of the L+EARN #BIZ programme, targeting young entrepreneurs and launched in 2022, also showed remarkable achievements. Participants achieved a 97% knowledge score in budgeting by the end of the programme, with 94% setting personal financial goals and 91% establishing financial goals for their businesses.

These results underscore the programme’s success in empowering them to effectively manage their personal and business finances.

Janete Nel Namarsha Singh Koovi Moodley Ivor Nkanyiso Msimang Helena Gavera Sibusiso Sagoda Francois Adriaan Grounded Media John Manyike Association for Savings & Investment South Africa (ASISA) ASISA Academy Marana Brand Smart About Money Laura du Preez, CFP? Ingrid Goodspeed Tebello Radebe Killy Bacela CM (SA) Rodger Walters Seipati Nekhondela Ramostshudi Isaac Ramputa Western Cape Government Sanlam The Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme Foundation NPC (ISFAP) Ninety One Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA) Kamva Capital Bureau of Market Research (Pty) Ltd Jenny Gage Chantal Morifi Coco Cachalia Daphney Sibongile Neke Hallid Smith Ruth Benjamin-Swales Alyna Wyatt The Hope Factory Absa Group Jacolize Meiring Carel Van Aardt Atleha-edu NPC