Kaduna achieves 66% financial inclusion

Kaduna State has recorded a major leap in financial inclusion, increasing account ownership by 20 percent over the past three years and bringing more than 800,000 adults into the formal financial system. The state now boasts a 66 percent inclusion rate, according to Commissioner for Finance, Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed. In a statement yesterday, Mohammed explained […]

Kaduna State has recorded a major leap in financial inclusion, increasing account ownership by 20 percent over the past three years and bringing more than 800,000 adults into the formal financial system. The state now boasts a 66 percent inclusion rate, according to Commissioner for Finance, Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed.

In a statement yesterday, Mohammed explained that Kaduna’s performance has outpaced national trends.

“Kaduna grew at 6.67 percent per year between 2021 and 2024—over 20 percent in total—while Nigeria overall grew at just 2.67 percent annually,” he said.

“More than 2.5 million accounts were opened; over 800,000 adults joined the banking system for the first time; women’s inclusion rose from 38 to 47 percent; and agent banking expanded to more than 2,800 active agents statewide.”

He attributed the progress to a hands-on, homegrown strategy, led by the state’s Financial Inclusion and Literacy Committee, which carried out targeted enrolment campaigns and built proprietary software linking 7.9 million NINs with BVNs—the highest per-capita NIN registration rate in Nigeria.

These achievements are documented in a newly released report titled “The Last Mile: Kaduna’s Financial Inclusion Journey.”

Mohammed said the state is entering a new phase that focuses on translating access into meaningful economic empowerment.

“Millions now have access to formal financial services for the first time. The next phase is about helping them use these tools to improve their livelihoods, strengthen resilience, and engage more fully with government services,” he stated.

“Kaduna is building a digital economy that works for everyone, every day.”

The commissioner outlined the roots of the state’s turnaround. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Kaduna discovered that more than half of residents lacked bank accounts required for social support payments.

To improve proximity and ease of enrolment, he said the state deployed agents across urban centres while mapping gaps in rural and underserved areas. It also intervened between federal institutions and banks to close infrastructure gaps.

In 2021, Kaduna built software that linked its state identity system (KADRIMA) with NIN records and pushed them to banking platforms to accelerate BVN registrations, he added.