Experts identify ways to meet financial inclusion target

Experts in the financial sector say more work needs to be done for Nigeria to attain its 80 per cent target in financial inclusion across the country. They stated this on Thursday at a virtual event organized by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning with […]

Experts in the financial sector say more work needs to be done for Nigeria to attain its 80 per cent target in financial inclusion across the country.

They stated this on Thursday at a virtual event organized by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning with the theme “Financial Inclusion for all by 2020: What worked, what didn’t, which way forward?

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The federal government in 2012 launched the National Financial Inclusion Strategy aimed at reducing the number of adult Nigerians that are excluded from the formal financial system from 46.3 per cent to 20 per cent by the year 2020.

The head of corporate services of the NESG, Ms Ogechi Obiorah, who represented the CEO, Mr Laoye Jaiyeola, said: “Between 2011 to 2021, Nigeria increased her financially included population by 65 percent but failed to meet her 80 %, but this progress is commendable. The hardest hit group is the lower segment of Nigerian society, vulnerable to economic shocks. Four in 10 Nigerians live below the poverty line and this event will help us deliberate on financial inclusion bottlenecks and lessons learnt in the past to enhance the financial inclusion agenda by the year 2030.”

The special adviser to the president of the federal republic of Nigeria on social investments, Mrs Maryam Uwais, said although policies have been introduced by the government such as the establishment of community microfinance banks to facilitate the access of the financially excluded to formal financial services, more still needs to be done to bridge the gap.

Also speaking, the Head of the financial inclusion secretariat of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Paul Oluikpe, said that in 2012, the CBN formulated and began the implementation of the financial framework, which included the cashless policy.