Unpacking The Need For Building Financial Literacy In Society With Joy Buno

Founder and Director of Palm Valley Joy Buno, is an accomplished Finance Professional with career spanning 17 years. Passionate about highlighting the need for financial literacy in members of society, she speaks to us about a recently rolled-out initiative coined Financial Literacy with Joy Buno. TRC: Joy, tell us a little about yourself and your qualifications as a financial expert. JOY BUNO: I am a finance professional with 17 years’ experience and a holder of a Bachelor of Accountancy degree obtained from the University of Botswana in 2002. I then went on to attain an Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) professional qualification and membership. As I progressed in my career, I found the need to study further with the goal of equipping myself for the corporate world beyond just Accountancy, by taking up and successfully attaining a Masters’ degree in Business Administration (MBA) with the University of Derby. During that same period, I graduated with a Postgraduate Certificate in Risk Management with Botswana Accountancy College (BAC). I am a fellow member of Certi-

fied Chartered Accountants (FCPA) and Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA).

I have worked at different levels in the Finance management environment within the private sector and across different industries. Over the years, I have spent the most part of my Executive years within the financial sector which exposed me to the relevant experience that is critical for this financial literacy journey that I have embarked on. I am currently Head of Finance at Liberty Life Botswana.

On a personal note, I am married to a loving and supportive husband, Bruce Buno and we are blessed with 3 children (2 girls and 1 boy). TRC: Take us through Financial Literacy with Joy Buno. As a professional working in finance, what inspired you to give back to society through your programme Financial Literacy with Joy Buno? JOY BUNO: ‘Financial Literacy with Joy Buno’ was officially born on my birthday, 23rd September in 2020, after much thought, introspection, and preparation. I often asked myself difficult questions on days leading to my birthday regarding my purpose in life, my social responsibilities, as well as how I was utilizing my knowledge and God given talents for imparting my knowledge.

I have always wanted to teach and train people around finance-related matters but procrastinated on it for years. Throughout this period, I saw the financial literacy deficiency amongst the youth, young adults, grown adults as well as retirees. The more I interacted with people of different backgrounds about many different topics, the more I realized that my fellow countrymen needed to be exposed to basic financial knowledge. In this world it is difficult to maneuver through life without basic understanding of personal finance. I then took a leap of faith and decided to set up ‘Financial Literacy with Joy Buno’ as a Facebook page to begin. TRC: Would you say Batswana whom you interact with understand and value lessons you share with them? JOY BUNO: I try to simplify my posts for ease of understanding by different cohorts within my audience. My mission is to touch on everyday issues that my audience come across daily. For example, I have talked about financial statements, assets, liabilities, income, savings, investments, loans and amortization schedules, assets registers, types of insurances and so on.

I think most of my followers do understand the information I share with them because some do share my posts with their followers, some contact me directly for more information via messenger or email and those that have my cell numbers do call me directly for further clarity on issues of their interests. The activity that has been going on around this financial literacy initiative since its inception is an indication that Batswana do value the lessons that I have been sharing with them for the past 8 months.

TRC: Is the CSR initiative operated at company level or is it only currently running across social media platforms? JOY BUNO: For now, the initiative is operated through social media platforms (Facebook). I however have growth aspirations and would want to take this journey to greater heights by formally operating as a company soon. TRC: Who are your target beneficiaries? JOY BUNO: I believe that financial literacy is a need for all. Everyone has the right to be knowledgeable on matters to do with money and wealth generation. We all trade with money regardless of our social status and must therefore have exposure to financial knowledge. My target audience is everyone that is willing to listen, ask questions, learn and be open to discuss relevant topics. I am fortunate to have also mentored young people recently, sharing a lot of insights around financial literacy with them. TRC: Are there other initiatives you conduct to fulfill your passion for corporate social responsibility as a finance professional? JOY BUNO: Organisations do invite me to speak on financial literacy matters at a lot of their community engagement events. I have had the opportunity to address Botho University students at the invitation of the management and academia and have received an invitation from one leading corporate to speak to young girls that are writing their high school exams this year. This event brought with it great excitement for me as it was an opportunity to guide young lives in the right direction at the right time.

I also run my company Palm Valley, where we offer spa services, events hosting and lodging. I employ young girls whom I never stop sharing my financial knowledge with as I believe I am grooming them for life beyond Palm Valley. It is important to me that they evolve into financially responsible citizens of Botswana, and I am humbled to have the opportunity to share my knowledge with them that nobody can ever take away from them. I would like to see them as financially responsible citizens one day and like they say, when you educate a man, you educate one person but when you educate a woman you educate the whole community.