Cardoso Advocates Special Financial Inclusion Units As Rate Rises To 74%

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has called for the setting up of special units dedicated to financial inclusion in institutions even as the percentage of Nigerians captured in the financial sector has risen to 74 per cent.

According to the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) latest Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2023 Survey (A2F) report for 2023, the inclusion rate in the country had risen to 74 per cent from 64 per cent in 2020 when the last survey was done, due to increasing urbanisation in the country.

Speaking at the launch of the A2F 2023 report in Lagos, the CBN governor, Dr Olayemi Cardoso called on financial inclusion implementation agencies to set up specific functions or units dedicated to financial inclusion in their various organizations.

This, he said, will provide the necessary ownership and commitment required to achieve the goal of ensuring that every Nigerian has access to financial services. Cardoso who was represented by the CBN Director, Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, Mr. Chibuike Nwagerue, urged stakeholders to activate every lever necessary to deepen financial inclusion and broaden the usage of financial services in Nigeria.

As the country moves closer to its target, Cardoso said, achieving the target of 95 percent financial inclusion, “we must all move from collaboration to concrete commitment. To that effect, I call on all Financial Inclusion implementation agencies.”

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He furthered that in addition to already existing strategies, the bank will focus more on the role of formalization to support the conduct and transmission of Monetary Policy. Financial inclusion broadens the reach of monetary policy by increasing the number of individuals and businesses participating in the formal financial system.

“This expanded participation provides additional channels through which changes in interest rates and other policy tools can influence economic activity. To achieve major economic goals through Financial Inclusion, stakeholders must work towards addressing infrastructural issues in underserved areas like broadband penetration and digital identification.

“Over the past couple of years, financial inclusion stakeholders have made tremendous efforts in expanding financial service access through the rapid deployment of agents, and the development of a mix of products suitable for the financially excluded demographics. Very recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria issued a guideline on linking Tier 1 accounts to the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identification Number (NIN) in a bid to ensure that the Banking space is safe for the financially excluded and the economy at large.

“We therefore call on all stakeholders to continue to come up with innovative means through which Financial Inclusion can be leveraged to achieve the economic growth we desire.”

Cardoso noted that, despite the efforts in Financial Inclusion, some demographics like Women, Youth, MSMEs, Nigerians in rural areas and Northern regions remain disproportionately excluded.

“We are confident that efforts by stakeholders to address these gaps in the past two years show some improvement. The survey findings will also reveal the need to focus on the Financial Health of Nigerian adults, especially in the wake of global economic shocks,” he said.

Speaking on the report, the research manager at EFInA, Oluwatomi Eromosele noted that the increase in financial inclusion can be related to the rising urbanisation in the country. According to her, Nigeria had moved from being largely rural populated to being largely urban populated with 58.7 per cent of its population in urban areas compared to 41.3 per cent resident in rural areas.

She noted that, whilst financial inclusion had improved generally, some states in the North East, North West and South East areas of the country had suffered setback with more people being excluded.