A recently-released report by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) showed that the number of Nigerians with pension accounts was 7 percent.
In its survey, it found that 18 million uninsured Nigerian adults showed interest in microfinance, while only 2 percent were insured and 24 million adults without pensions saved towards their retirements.
The report, Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2020 Survey, stated that Nigeria fell short of its National Financial Inclusion Strategy target.
It stated that Nigeria’s banked population, for the first time, grew to more than half of the country’s population.
In 2020, 51 percent of Nigerians used formal financial services like banks, microfinance, mobile money, insurance, among other financial services, the report said.
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Between 2018 and 2020, the number of banked Nigerians rose to 45 percent from 40 percent, below the 70 percent target for 2020, however, the percentage of banked Nigerians was pegged at 51 percent.
The Deputy Governor, Financial Systems Stability (FSS), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Aishah Ahmad, said that “financial inclusion is a strong lever for bridging income inequality, combating poverty and preserving social harmony.
The CBN has accordingly been at the forefront of the efforts to drive financial inclusion in Nigeria by championing the development & implementation of Nigeria’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy led by the CBN Governor.”
Also commenting was the CEO of EFInA, Ashley Emmanuel, who said, “At our current rate of progress, we will not reach the 2020 financial inclusion targets until around 2030. However, we can reach these targets much faster if we follow paths taken by other African countries that have seen rapid financial inclusion growth due to mobile money.”
