Build business better with financial Literacy

Expanding economic possibilities for more means strengthening the fundamentals and revisiting them where necessary. [iStockphoto]

Literacy, the ability to read and to write, enables prosperity. Yet, at least 773 million young people and adults lack basic literacy skills. As technology evolves, users who lack the foundation of learning and education will not reap the benefits of the ongoing digital transformation. The pandemic reinforced the need to be or become digitally literate. Individuals who could not make the transition struggled during the pandemic.

As we celebrate International Literacy Day, we are reminded that the recovery from the consequences of the pandemic will require science, financing, and investment. But how would these investments enable prosperity when one of the levers, literacy, is not often seen as a catalyst of economic transformation? More than 2 billion adults in the world are unable to contribute meaningfully to their communities because they lack the kind of literacy skills required by employers. It is estimated that their inability costs more than USD 1 trillion to the global economy.