The first Cedi Sense Conference urged people to look beyond their income and focus on how they save, spend and plan for the future.
Held at ESP Hotel in Accra on Saturday, 7 November 2026, the event was organised by 3Xtra, a brand of MG Digital, under the theme “Building Wealth in the Digital Age”.
Stanbic Investment Management Services (SIMS) supported the conference as Partner, providing financial backing and helping bring investment professionals, financial educators and digital finance practitioners into the programme. ESP Hotel was the Venue Partner.
Paul Kofi Mante, Managing Director of EDC Investments Limited, said building wealth required more than simply receiving money.
“Wealth is not built by how much money that passes through your hands,” he said. “We borrow to do things that bring back money not for consumption.”
Saving and building financial resilience
Desmond Bredu, Head of Client Coverage at SIMS, described money as a means of improving people’s lives and encouraged participants to learn from financial setbacks.
“Money is a tool that we need to use to better ourselves,” he said, while warning that expectations should remain realistic to avoid persistent dissatisfaction.
Bredu advised participants to keep notes in a separate savings account rather than storing them with coins in a susu box, where they might be easier to spend. He also told business owners to separate personal and company finances, pay themselves sensibly, save consistently and price their products properly.
Financial literacy expert and content creator Priscilla Atta-Peters of 30seeds said saving was an important first step towards investing.
“Saving is a stepping stone into investment,” she said.
Jerome Kuseh of CediTalk said financial progress also depended on strengthening a person’s ability to earn. “Value education, learn to earn, and never limit yourself,” he said. The Wealth Foundations session was moderated by Beatrice Adu.
Research before investing
The Investment Mastery session, moderated by Martin Asiedu-Dartey, focused on the research and discipline needed before committing money.
Mimi Anane-Appiah, co-founder of Investment Friend, said potential gains on the stock exchange had to be weighed against the risk of losses. She encouraged investors to avoid emotional decisions and build relationships with knowledgeable industry professionals.
SIMS Senior Investment Advisor Emily Baaba Dadzie said people should understand a company before buying its shares.
“Before investing in a company’s stocks, take time to research and understand the business,” she said.
Wendyliza Kwarteng, also a Senior Investment Advisor at SIMS, advised people to start with amounts they could afford and define their objectives. She said investing should protect money’s future value as well as increase it.
“The goal of investing is not just to grow your money, but to protect its purchasing power over time,” she said.
Making digital finance more useful
The Digital Money session, moderated by MG Digital’s Richard Sena Quashie, examined how technology could improve everyday financial services.
Clinton Mbah, CEO and Co-Founder of Accrue, called for cross-border payments to become simpler, faster and more affordable. He also discussed virtual cards, digital-wallet payments and over-collateralised borrowing, in which borrowers provide assets worth more than the amount borrowed.
CediRates founder Ralph Gerbs urged participants not to let fear dictate investment decisions, stressing careful assessment and patience across stocks and cryptocurrency.
Dawuda Iddrisu of SeevCash explained that his payment solution was designed to help people pay while travelling.
TV3’s Manu Afful hosted the event, Cedi Sense’s first in-person conference after two years of developing its concept through videos and studio conversations. The initiative plans to continue with a weekly newsletter featuring MySikasem and practical money explainers, alongside the show, community discussions, webinars and campus engagement.
Further details will be announced as arrangements are confirmed. Conference photographs are available at cedisense.mgdm.co/gallery, while updates and newsletter registration are at cedisense.mgdm.co.
