Nigeria To Host International Conference On Financial Inclusion

Nigeria is ready to host the very first International Financial Inclusion Conference 22 (IFIC'22) from Nov. 24-25 in Abuja.

The conference will bring in experts from all corners of the globe to help further examine the opportunities at hand which could pick up the pace in meeting the financial inclusion objectives.

The National Financial Inclusion Steering Committee, headed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), announced yesterday that the conference with the theme: 'Financial Inclusion for all: Scaling Innovative Digital Models' will be held soon.

Dr. Paul Oluikpe of the National Financial Inclusion Technical Committee issued a statement in this regard yesterday.

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele stated that the conference will create a platform to showcase other countries' experiences concerning the topic at hand.

"We are excited to host the maiden International Financial Inclusion Conference in Nigeria. The conference presents a unique opportunity to showcase our financial inclusion journey, particularly the innovative use cases that continue to emerge within the dynamic payments and financial system in the country. These will be important as we work to ensure 95% of Nigerians are financially included by 2024," he said.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has announced that it is working to increase depositors' confidence in the financial system, and is preparing to do more, as the government plans to host the first International Financial Inclusion Conference 2022.

The NDIC said that it is making more effort to close the gap between the banked and unbanked people of Nigeria, as well as providing new ways for the unbanked to access financial services from licensed banks.

Nigeria's national financial inclusion strategy

Nigeria, like many other developing countries, has a national financial inclusion strategy (NFIS) to guide market and ecosystem actors on how to improve microenterprises.

The strategy document spells out specific priority measures to be adopted in a bid to reduce credit risks and transaction costs associated with serving the most financially excluded members of society.

Some of these measures include initiatives to support the expansion and reach of digital financial services, increasing agent banking networks, and promoting more channels for cashless payments.

Nigeria's financial inclusion rate grew to 64.1 percent in 2020, up from 63.2 percent in 2018, according to the latest data from EFInA. Although this is below the 80 percent target set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for 2020, the increase still represents progress toward the goal.

However, the number of adults excluded from financial services increased over the same period, rising from 36.8 percent in 2018 to 35.9 percent in 2020. This means that 1.5 million more adults fell into exclusion over the last two years, totaling 38.1 million excluded adults in 2020.

Currently, Nigeria has set a target to achieve 95% financial inclusion by the year 2024. This would mean that a vast majority of the population would have access to formal financial services.

Since the national financial inclusion strategy took effect in 2012, there has been some progress. The number of citizens with access to formal and informal financial services has increased slightly.