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36.9m Nigerians excluded from financial system – Survey

By on December 16, 2014

Findings from the EFInA access to financial services in Nigeria 2014 survey has revealed that 36.9 million adults, representing 39.5 per cent of the population are financially excluded.

This means that they have no access to financial services.

However, the report also showed that the number of Nigerian adults nationwide who are banked increased from 28.6 million (32.5 per cent of the adult population) in 2012 to 33.9 million (36.3 per cent of the adult
population) in 2014.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of EFInA, Ms. Modupe Ladipo, since EFInA started measuring financial access in 2008, the number of Nigerian adults with access to formal financial services (such as bank accounts, insurance, pensions, mobile money or microfinance bank products) has increased by 25 million.

That, according to her was larger than the entire population of many African countries.

“However, given Nigeria’s population growth, the number of financially excluded adults still remains high. To reduce financial exclusion, financial services providers will need to be more effective in reaching those in the most excluded groups, including youth, women, Northern Nigerians, and those living in rural areas,” she said.

The nationally-representative EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2014 survey also showed that mobile money awareness and usage remains low; 11.9 million adults (12.7per cent of the adult population) are aware of mobile money, and only 800,000 Nigerian adults (0.8per cent of the adult population) currently use mobile money.

Uptake of insurance in the country was also low, with one million adults (1.1 per cent of the adult population) using insurance.

It indicated that 14.3 million adults said that they would be interested in micro-insurance products. The survey also found that 2.6 million adults (2.8 per cent of the adult population) currently have a micro-finance bank account; however an additional 31.5 million adults said that they would like to have a microfinance bank account.

Speaking at a ceremony to unveil the survey finding, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele had underscored the importance of continuously monitoring progress towards achieving the targets of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy.

 

[ThisDay]