- RESET Project Gives 50 Young People Financial Skills, Bank Accounts and Seed Funding
Fifty young people at Ghana’s Senior Correctional Centre have completed a 12-module financial capability programme designed to improve their chances of building productive and financially independent lives after release, in an intervention that links rehabilitation with formal financial inclusion and livelihood support.
The initiative, known as RESET, Rise to Economic Security, Empowerment and Transformation, was initiated by researchers from the University of North Carolina in partnership with the University of Ghana’s Department of Social Work and the Senior Correctional Centre, with Republic Bank (Ghana) PLC serving as the sole financial institution supporting the project. The programme combines research, rehabilitation, financial education and access to formal financial services.
The economic logic behind the programme is straightforward: vocational rehabilitation may give participants practical skills, but those skills do not automatically translate into sustainable livelihoods. Young people leaving correctional care may still face limited access to capital, weak financial knowledge, difficulty entering formal banking systems and significant barriers to securing employment or establishing businesses.
Professor David Ansong of the University of North Carolina, lead researcher on RESET, said successful reintegration requires more than rehabilitation inside a correctional institution. He argued that participants also need the ability to make financial decisions, access services and resources and convert their skills into sustainable economic activity after release.
The programme was delivered by Republic Bank staff volunteering their expertise and covered budgeting, saving, responsible borrowing, financial decision-making, entrepreneurship and future planning. More significantly, all participants have had bank accounts opened in their names, bringing them formally into the financial system rather than limiting the programme to classroom-based financial literacy.
Each beneficiary is also expected to receive seed funding to establish a small workshop or another livelihood activity after release. The objective is to help participants convert vocational skills acquired at the Senior Correctional Centre into income-generating activities that can support more independent and economically sustainable lives.
That additional funding component is important because financial literacy without access to productive capital can have limited impact. A participant may understand budgeting and savings but still be unable to purchase tools, rent workspace, acquire initial inventory or meet other basic costs required to begin earning an income.
Dr Benjamin Dzoboku, Managing Director of Republic Bank (Ghana) PLC, described RESET as an intervention built around second chances and practical support. “We want these young people to leave the Centre not only with vocational skills, but also with the financial capability, confidence and practical support needed to build productive lives,” he said.
He added that financial inclusion should not be measured simply by the number of accounts opened. According to him, meaningful inclusion requires people to understand how to use financial services, manage resources responsibly and have opportunities to build sustainable livelihoods, with the seed funding intended to provide participants with a practical starting point.
The model reflects a broader shift in thinking about rehabilitation. Rather than treating correctional programmes solely as behavioural or vocational interventions, RESET places economic capability at the centre of reintegration on the assumption that participants are better positioned to rebuild their lives when they have both skills and practical pathways to earning income.
DDP Yayra Ashong-Mettle, Officer-in-Charge of the Senior Correctional Centre, said the programme complements the institution’s existing rehabilitation work by preparing participants for economic engagement after release. She said rehabilitation should ultimately help individuals return to society with purpose, confidence and the ability to contribute positively.
Dr Abena Ampomah of the University of Ghana’s Department of Social Work and Co-Principal Investigator of RESET said the initiative demonstrates how research, education and institutional partnerships can be translated into practical interventions for vulnerable populations. She said strengthening financial capability and connecting participants to economic opportunity could improve their prospects for sustainable reintegration.
The programme also provides a useful test of the difference between financial access and financial capability. Opening an account is an important first step, but the more consequential question is whether participants can use financial services productively, accumulate assets, manage income and withstand the financial pressures that can accompany the transition back into society.
Republic Bank said its involvement forms part of its broader commitment to financial inclusion, youth empowerment and widening economic participation for underserved groups. As the sole financial institution involved in RESET, the Bank has played a central role in delivering the financial capability modules and connecting participants to formal banking services.
The completion of the 12 modules does not mark the end of the intervention. RESET includes planned mentorship and post-release engagement intended to support participants as they transition from correctional care into independent and productive living.
That continuing support could be one of the programme’s most important components. The period immediately after release is often when participants must convert training into real-world decisions about employment, entrepreneurship, savings and spending, making follow-up support potentially more valuable than a one-off graduation exercise.
RESET also forms part of FCAB Africa, a continent-wide research initiative focused on financial capability and asset building as foundations for economic resilience and financial well-being. The wider initiative is led by the University of North Carolina, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis.
The programme’s long-term value will ultimately depend on outcomes after participants leave the Centre. The strongest measure of success will not be the number of modules completed or accounts opened, but whether beneficiaries are able to establish sustainable livelihoods, retain access to formal finance and avoid returning to circumstances that undermine successful reintegration.
RESET therefore represents an attempt to move rehabilitation from training alone towards economic participation. By combining financial education, formal bank accounts, seed funding, vocational skills and planned mentorship, the project is testing whether financial capability can become a practical bridge between correctional care and productive independence.
