Nigeria ranks 9 out of 21 nations in financial inclusion efforts

Nigeria achieved a number nine ranking out of 21 countries overall financial inclusion efforts, according to 2015 Brookings Financial and Digital Inclusion Project (FDIP) Report and Scorecard.

The Brookings Institution is a US-based non-profit organisation devoted to independent research and policy solutions.

Other countries that John D. Villasenor, Darrell M. West, and Robin J. Lewis, Brookings experts, analysed their financial inclusion landscape include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, and Zambia.

Nigeria earned 72 percent of the total possible points to garner the ninth top overall score. Other highlights of Nigeria’s performance metrics include Tied for first place for country commitment, Secured eighth place for mobile capacity, earned a 12th place ranking for regulatory environment, ranked 10th place for adoption and launched a financial inclusion strategy in 2012 and instituted a Financial Inclusion Secretariat.

The global pursuit of financial inclusion as a vehicle for economic development had a positive effect in Nigeria as the exclusion rate reduced from 53 percent in 2008 to 46.3 percent in 2010. Encouraged by the positive development, the Central Bank of Nigeria in collaboration with stakeholders launched the National Financial Inclusion Strategy on October 23, 2012, aimed at further reducing the exclusion rate to 20 percent by 2020.

Specifically, adult Nigerians with access to payment services is to increase from 21.6 percent in 2010 to 70 percent in 2020, while those with access to savings should increase from 24 percent to 60 percent, and Credit from 2 percent to 40 percent, Insurance from1 percent to 40 percent, and Pensions from 5 percent to 40 percent, within the same period.However, the percentage of formally excluded

adult Nigerians has reduced to 39.5 percent, in 2104 from 39.7 in 2012, according to the result of the 2014 survey by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA).

Godwin Emefiele, governor, CBN, had restated the commitment of the bank to ensuring the provision of affordable financial services to the low income and underserved active adult population.

Modupe Ladipo, CEO of EFInA, had said the figure was still relatively high due to the fact that 23 percent of adult Nigerians lacked formal education and less than 10 percent were salaried.

She however said the good news was that the percentage of adult Nigerians formally included in the financial system had increased to about 50 percent.