The Federal Government plans to localise financial inclusion data across Nigeria by partnering with state governments to adopt insights from the EFInA Access to Financial Services survey, a biennial study by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA).
This forms part of resolutions reached at the inaugural meeting of the Technical Committee of the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion (PreCEFI), held recently in Abuja.
Dr Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, Secretary of the Committee and Technical Adviser to the President on Financial Inclusion, says the EFInA report will be presented to the National Economic Council (NEC) and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to guide grassroots-level implementation.
“We will be presenting the report to the National Economic Council and the Nigerian Governors Forum to ensure data is domesticated and acted upon at the subnational level,” Dr Zauro says.
The Abuja meeting brought together key representatives from government, financial institutions, and academia to align with President Bola Tinubu’s economic and financial inclusion vision.
Engr Abisoye Coker-Odusote, Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), highlights the critical role of digital identity in enabling financial access.
“The beauty of the NIN is that it bridges the financial divide. It provides access to health, education, and agricultural services and strengthens national data infrastructure,” Engr Coker-Odusote says.
The meeting also marks the beginning of the implementation phase of the federal government’s economic and financial inclusion strategy, which includes conditional cash transfers targeting 15 million vulnerable households.
Agencies supporting the effort include NIMC, the National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).
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