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#Money Management
"Mom, are we rich?" Eight-year-old Emma looks up from the sofa and asks her mother, out of nowhere. Cécile pauses. She thinks for a second, then smiles. "Yes, darling. We are rich." Emma frowns. "Then why don't we have a bigger TV like Chris’s family, our neighbors?" Cécile takes a breath and explains, gently, that being rich means having what matters most, food on the table, a roof over their heads, school fees paid, and the doctor when they need one. A bigger TV, she says, is not important. Emma nods and goes back to playing. She seems satisfied. But Cécile is not.
She sits quietly for a moment after her daughter leaves the room. She knows she gave a good answer, a true answer. But she feels there is so much more she could say, so much more she should say, and she does not know where to begin. She has never sat down with her children to talk about money. Not really. She has always meant to, she has always felt it would teach them something important, but every time the moment comes, she holds back.
Because growing up, money was never her conversation to have. She could only overhear it, fragments of adult talk behind closed doors or at the dining table after children were sent away. She was never invited in. And so, without meaning to, she has carried that same silence into her own home.
Why do African parents avoid talking about money with their kids?
Many of us grew up in homes where money was considered an adult matter. Talking about finances in front of children was seen as inappropriate, or even irresponsible. The unspoken rule was: children should be protected from financial stress, not made partners in it.
This instinct comes from a place of love. But there is a cost.
When children grow up with no framework for money, no language for income, expenses, saving, or debt; they enter adulthood financially illiterate. Not because they are irresponsible, but because nobody ever taught them. And in urban Africa, where the cost of living rises faster than most salaries, that gap is dangerous.
Does financial literacy actually change a child's future?
The research says yes. Allianz, one of the world's largest financial research institutions, describes financial literacy as "a catalyst for economic mobility." Their findings show that people with strong financial knowledge are better equipped to access credit, start businesses, invest wisely, and build long-term wealth. Those without it are more likely to accumulate debt, fall victim to financial exploitation, and remain trapped in cycles of financial instability.
A study published in the American Economic Review found a direct link between financial literacy and household wealth accumulation. Put simply: the more financially literate a person is, the more wealth they tend to build over time, regardless of their starting point.
For middle-class urban African families, families who are one medical emergency or one job loss away from sliding backward, this is not a minor insight. Financial literacy is one of the clearest levers available for genuine class mobility. And the best time to install that lever is childhood.
My parents never taught me about money. Where do I even begin?
This is the most honest question and the right starting point.
Before you can teach your child anything about money, you need to get your own financial life in order. Here is where you can start:
- Start with a budget and stick to it. Write down everything that comes in, then everything that goes out. A notebook works fine. Include the small things: the data bundles, transport, the school contributions you forgot about. A budget makes you aware. Give yourself a week, then review it. What did you overspend on? Where did you do well? Adjust and keep going. If you are married, staying on the same page and keeping each other accountable is not optional; it is the foundation.
- Save before you spend. Transfer your savings the moment your salary arrives, before anything else. Even 5,000 RWF a month is a start. The habit matters more than the amount.
- Look honestly at your expenses and your income too. Are there subscriptions you forgot about? Bundles that expire half-used? Could you buy groceries in bulk at Nyabugogo Market instead of daily corner-shop runs? Small savings stacked consistently, compound into significant sums. But a budget cannot fix an income problem. If your salary is genuinely too small for your needs, begin thinking, about a second stream of income: a skill you can freelance, a small thing you can sell, a service your neighborhood needs. In other words, a problem you can solve and make an income from it.
- Begin investing. Even modestly. Mobile money platforms such as MoKash, Community savings groups (Ibimina), unit trusts, these exist across East and West Africa and are more accessible than most people realize. Watching your money grow, even slowly, changes how you think about money.
How do I actually teach my child about money?
Once your own financial life has some structure, you become a living curriculum.
- Make money visible. You do not have to share every detail of your finances with your child. But you can narrate your decisions. "We are not buying that today because it is not in our budget." When passing on a purchase: “I want it too, but we have something more important to save for.” These sentences, repeated naturally over years, build a financial mindset.
- Teach them the difference between needs and wants. This is foundational. Not every desire is an emergency. Help your child name the difference, calmly and without shame, from a young age.
- Give them something to manage. A small weekly allowance of 500 francs, teaches far more than any lecture. Let them make choices with it. Let them run out. Let them save for something they want. Real consequences are the best teacher.
- Let them see you save. If you use a physical savings envelope or a mobile savings app, show them. Let them watch the number grow. Children who see saving modeled at home are significantly more likely to save as adults.
- Introduce earning early. Beyond regular chores, let them earn small rewards for specific tasks; washing the car, organizing a room, helping at a family event. It shows them that money is something you create, not just something that arrives.
The one thing that will determine your child's financial future
It is not the school they attend. It is not their intelligence. It is the financial habits they observe and practice at home, consistently, before the age of twelve.
You cannot give your children what you do not have. But you can build it, one honest conversation, one kept budget, one saved month at a time. And when you do, you give them something that lasts far beyond childhood.
Emma may not remember that afternoon on the sofa, or the question she asked about the TV. But if Cécile starts now, Emma will grow up in a home where money is talked about, planned for, and controlled, not whispered about behind closed doors. That is the inheritance worth leaving.