Post Redenomination and Money Management among Ghana's Urban Poor

Post Redenomination and Money Management among Ghana's Urban Poor

2010

West Africa

Ghana

This study seeks to analyze the impact of Ghana's recent currency redenomination on its urban poor. This study proposes that the redenomination of the cedi may have had a unique impact on Ghana's poor with respect to money management, saving behavior, and financial literacy; the project will look at some of the coping strategies that those living on less than a dollar a day have adopted to enhance their literacy of the new currency in order to avoid fraud and exploitation. With the use of semi-structured interviews and document review, the study will explore the saving habits, financial literacy, and the process of adoption to the new currency among the poor living in Accra, Ghana's capital city.

Edwin Clifford Mensah, Vivian Afi Dzokoto

Dr. Edwin Clifford Mensah, received his Master of Economics and Ph.D. in Economics degrees from North Carolina State University and is currently an Assistant Professor of Economics in the School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, U.S.A. He is also a visiting Professor of Economics at Valley View University-Ghana (West Africa). He is the author of the book, Economics of Technology Adoption: A Simple Approach, and a number of peer reviewed journal publications.

Dr. Vivian Afi Dzokoto received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Currently an Assistant Professor in African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, Dr. Dzokoto's current research interests include culture and emotion, and redenomination experiences in Ghana.