Vice President Kashim Shettima has said there is an urgent need for financial innovation to drive Nigeria’s economic and financial inclusion agenda.
This is in line with the commitment of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to bringing over 30 million unbanked Nigerians into the formal financial sector.
Shettima made the call during a high-level policy dialogue between the Nigerian government and private sector stakeholders held in Washington DC, the United States capital.
The initiative, which brought together government officials, regulators, law enforcement agencies, and fintech industry leaders at the George Washington University, aims to leverage innovative approaches to drive a sustainable and inclusive financial system in Nigeria.
Addressing the gathering via video conference, Vice President Shettima in a statement by his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, highlighted President Tinubu’s commitment to bringing over 30 million unbanked Nigerians into the formal financial sector.
“We must develop a sustainable collaboration approach that will facilitate the adoption of inclusive payment to achieve our objective of economic and financial inclusion,” he stated.
The dialogue focused on addressing critical challenges in Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem, including regulatory oversight, security concerns, and trust issues that have hindered the widespread adoption of innovative financial solutions.
Participants explored strategies to enhance interagency collaboration and strengthen the overall effectiveness of the financial services sector.
Earlier, the deputy chief of staff to the president, Ibrahim Hadejia, said, “While the office of the vice president has given priority to economic and financial inclusion, it is expected that each agency of government will continue to play their statutory role collaboratively to achieve the set objective.”
Also, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria in charge of Financial System Stability, Philip Ikeazor, noted the need for ongoing collaboration among all players to achieve the objectives of the Aso Accord on Economic and Financial Inclusion.
Director general of the National Information Technology Agency, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, proposed “a Digital-first approach and the need to fuse Digital Literacy with Financial literacy as a means to address trust issues affecting the inclusive payment ecosystem.”
This is just as the GMD of Moniepoint, Tosin Eniolorunda, said, “Addressing trust issues that have slowed down the adoption of innovative Fintech solutions for economic and financial inclusion can be addressed through public-private collaborations.”
In his remarks, the technical advisor to the president on Economic and Financial Inclusion, Dr. Nurudeen Zauro, explained that the gathering will eventually evolve into a mechanism that will provide relevant information to the Office of the Vice President to facilitate effective decision-making for economic and financial inclusion.
The high-level engagement resulted in various recommendations covering rules, infrastructure, and coordination, with a focus on implementable actions and clear accountabilities.
Other speakers at the event included Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; executive director of the Center for Curriculum Development and Learning (CCDL) at George Washington University, Professor Pape Cisse; assistant vice president at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Reginald Emordi; regional director for Africa at the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), Lars Benson; United States Congresswoman representing Florida’s 20th congressional district, Sheila Cherfilus-McCorme.
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