Financial literacy content aimed at young Nigerians has grown steadily
in reach over the past few years, spanning podcasts, social media pages
and, more recently, entertainment formats such as game shows. What is
drawing closer attention now is not how many people are consuming this
content, but how many are acting on it.
InvestBeta, the financial game show produced by Stanbic IBTC Asset
Management, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, is one of the formats
credited with making that content more accessible. Now in its third
season and soon to be aired on the Stanbic IBTC YouTube channel, the
show has built a format around testing contestants on financial
knowledge and decision making under time pressure, an approach the
company says was designed to make investing feel less abstract.
Busola Jejelowo, Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Asset Management,
describing the thinking behind the show noted that, “InvestBeta has
always been about making the language of investing feel less distant and
more practical for everyday people,”
Busola added, “The first part of financial literacy is generating
interest and improving comprehension. The harder measure of success is
what happens once the entertainment ends. A viewer who understands the
difference between a mutual fund and a treasury bill has not necessarily
started saving in either.”
That distinction is where Stanbic IBTC Asset Management positions
BluNest, its digital investment platform, as the more relevant part of
the conversation going forward. BluNest is available through the Stanbic
IBTC Mobile App and a secure web platform and allows users to save and
invest across instruments including mutual funds, treasury bills and
fixed deposits from one account.
The platform was built to lower the practical barriers that keep people
from starting. Users can open an account and begin investing with as
little as five thousand naira, across instruments including mutual
funds, treasury bills and fixed deposits, rather than needing a large
sum or specialised financial knowledge to get started.
A low entry point removes the upfront hesitation that keeps many people
from opening an account at all, even when the intention to save already
exists. It does not guarantee a habit form, but it removes one of the
more common reasons people delay starting.
The company has also used a simpler framing to encourage consistent
saving, referred to in InvestBeta campaign material as the 20 percent
challenge, the practice of setting aside a fifth of one’s income
regardless of how much that income is. The principle is presented not as
a fixed target but as a proportion that can scale with an individual’s
earnings, meant to reinforce the idea that saving consistently matters
more than saving a large amount at once.
For Stanbic IBTC Asset Management, the positioning reflects a broader
shift in how the company is framing its financial education efforts.
Rather than treating shows like InvestBeta as standalone entertainment,
the company is presenting them as the first step in a longer process,
one that is only complete when a viewer opens an account and begins
saving or investing.
InvestBeta Gameshow 3.0 new episodes aires on the Stanbic IBTC YouTube
channel. BluNest remains available to new and existing Stanbic IBTC
customers through the Stanbic IBTC Mobile App and online.
Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited is registered and regulated by the
Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria as a Fund/Portfolio Manager.
