Cape Coast, March 10, GNA - Mr Duke Ofori-Atta, Vice-President of Databank on Saturday called on students to cultivate the habit of savings and investments as a guarantee for a better future. He said it was only when they undertake savings as a regular form of investment at an early stage of their lives that they could attain financial independence.

Mr Ofori-Atta made the call at an EPACK Investment Seminar to create awareness of the concept among students of University of Cape Coast (UCC) at Cape Coast.

The seminar was also to inculcate in the students the spirit of investments and the need to invest in the EPACK Investment Fund. It was organized by the management of Databank in conjunction with the UCC Students Representative Council (SRC), under the theme, "Attaining Financial Independence".

Mr Ofori-Atta, speaking on the topic, 93Securing Your Future Through Investments-Where Is the Money?" stressed the need for students to draw budgets for themselves and endeavour to live within them, because those who failed to plan their expenditure would encounter financial difficulties in the end.

He explained that as students, they could create wealth only when they built on their capacity and therefore advised them to make judicious use of monies that they earned to save some for investments. Mr Kwesi Amonoo-Neizer, Fund Manager of Databank, and a resource person, underscored the importance of the private sector in national development because the Government could employ only 800,000 out of the working population of about six million people in the country. However, he said job prospects were limited in the public sector and the large multi-national companies and therefore, urged the students to focus more on the small and medium scale enterprises to create jobs for themselves.

Mr Amonoo-Neizer advised the students to have a vision and think about their contribution to the economy because there was the need for them to organize and overcome risks in business. He noted that graduates from the universities should develop entrepreneurial skills in their quest to increase savings and investments in the country.

Mr Patrick Akorsu, a Lecturer at UCC, advised the students to invest for posterity and commended the organizers for the seminar. Mr Peter Wadja, SRC President, said EPAC Investment had prospects for students and urged them to register with the fund.