Financial Inclusion Won’t End Poverty Without Real Economic Growth – Sanusi

Former governor of the Central Bank and the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II, has warned that expanding access to bank accounts and digital financial services will not reduce poverty unless Nigeria links its financial system to production, investment and job creation.

Sanusi, who spoke at the launch of the 2026 Access to Financial Services in Abuja yesterday, said financial inclusion should not be measured merely by the number of accounts opened or transactions conducted, but by its impact on Nigerians’ livelihoods and economic security.

The former CBN governor, who is also the Emir of Kano, said Nigeria needed policies capable of attracting investment and directing financial resources towards farmers, manufacturers, traders and other productive sectors.

He said the rapid expansion of financial technology and digital payment platforms provided an opportunity to strengthen the connection between finance and the real economy.

“Financial solutions do not themselves create the economy. You want to build an economy, you need to have the right structure and policies which attract investment,” he said.

Sanusi also called for greater use of Nigeria’s existing financial infrastructure to develop products around savings, insurance, pensions and credit, particularly for low-income households.

According to him, the huge volume of transactions passing through the financial system could be leveraged to automatically channel small amounts into savings, insurance and pension products.

He stressed that inflation remained a major threat to savings and household wealth, warning that persistent price increases could discourage long-term savings and push Nigerians towards foreign currencies and other assets.

“There is no enemy to savings, no enemy to wealth that is bigger than inflation,” he said.

The former governor also urged policymakers to take regional economic differences into account when designing financial inclusion programmes, particularly in Northern Nigeria where poverty and financial exclusion remain significant challenges.

He said vulnerable households should have access to social transfers and basic services while government simultaneously worked to create markets capable of supporting local production.

Sanusi further cautioned against inconsistent government policies that could undermine domestic industries, urging policymakers to consider the effect of major economic decisions on farmers, manufacturers and other producers before exposing local industries to increased competition from imports.

He also called for stronger collaboration among financial regulators, saying fragmented regulation could create confusion for consumers and hamper innovation across banking, telecommunications, insurance, pensions and digital finance.

Reflecting on his tenure at the CBN, Sanusi acknowledged that some decisions could have been handled differently, particularly the pace at which telecommunications companies were allowed to participate in financial services.

He said the development of financial technology had demonstrated the need to balance innovation with adequate safeguards.

The former governor maintained that Nigeria had already developed substantial financial infrastructure, but that the next challenge was to scale it and connect it more effectively to the productive economy.

“Opening accounts, moving money, is not the same as spending. It is not the same as reducing poverty,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, the Director-General of the National Pension Commission, Omolola Oloworaran, said financial inclusion must go beyond access to accounts and focus on building resilience, security and long-term economic wellbeing.

Oloworaran said pension participation had increased from 7.8 per cent of adults in 2023 to 9.1 per cent in 2026, but noted that roughly nine out of every 10 Nigerian adults remained outside formal pension arrangements.

She said the gap represented a major challenge for pension reform, particularly among informal-sector workers such as traders, farmers, mechanics, drivers, tailors, hairdressers and Nigerians earning income through digital platforms.

According to her, many of these workers contribute significantly to the economy but lack adequate mechanisms to build financial security for retirement.

She said the contributory pension scheme had created one of Africa’s largest pools of long-term domestic savings, but argued that more needed to be done to bring excluded Nigerians into the pension system.

Oloworaran called for a stronger pension component in future editions of the Access to Financial Services in Nigeria survey, including research into what would encourage informal workers to begin saving and continue contributing.

She raised questions about the incentives that could encourage low-income earners to save regularly, including whether matching contributions could change behaviour and how trust could be built in financial products whose benefits may only be realised decades later.

“These are the questions that move us from awareness to enrollment, from enrollment to regular contribution, and from contributions to real retirement security,” she said.

The Board Chairman of Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access, Dr Agnes Olatokunbo Martins, said the 2026 Access to Financial Services in Nigeria survey was designed to provide evidence on how Nigerians actually interact with the financial system.

Martins said the survey, which has been conducted since 2008, provided a nationally representative demand-side view of the financial lives of Nigerian adults.

She said its importance lay in its ability to capture the experiences of individuals behind financial statistics, unlike administrative data that largely records accounts, transactions, infrastructure and service providers.

“Our theme for this event is Access, Opportunity, Growth: Advancing Financial and Economic Inclusion for All Nigerians,” she said.

According to Martins, the survey would help policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and development partners understand areas where progress had been made, identify persistent barriers and design interventions capable of expanding meaningful financial and economic inclusion.

She said EFInA would continue to work with government, regulators, financial service providers and development partners to generate evidence, identify barriers, support innovation and strengthen the conditions for inclusive financial markets.