CBN mulls financial inclusion trust fund

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the Financial Inclusion Steering Committee is planning to set up a Financial Inclusion Trust Fund that will provide resources for institutions to carry out critical cross agency initiatives that will help achieve the National Financial Inclusion objective.

The aim is to ensure that at least 80 per cent of Nigerians have access to banking and other financial services.

In the Financial Inclusion Newsletter available in the apex Bank’s website, the CBN stated that its seventh meeting of the Financial Inclusion Steering Committee took place at the Bank’s Head Quarters, Abuja on December 12, 2018 where a key highlight from the meeting included “the approval to set up a Financial inclusion Trust Fund.”

The Secretary to the Committee, Mrs Temitope Akin-Fadeyi in her presentation on the Financial Inclusion Trust Fund, stated that in view of the fact that implementation plans of stakeholders would be self-funded, the elements of the Fund had been streamlined and three cross-cutting initiatives, had been proposed.

They are as follows : National Peer Group Educator Programme (NAPGEP); Communication plans and Financial Inclusion State Steering Committee (FISSCO).

The Committee charged members including regulators, government and other stakeholders to make their contribution which would be coordinated by the Financial Inclusion Secretariat.

The meeting also featured three key presentations by representatives of Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), Lagos Business School (LBS) and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

Chaired by the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, the Committee provides policy and strategic direction on the implementation of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS).

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The chairman gave a narrative of the work that needed to be done by explaining how population growth would be a key concern for meeting the NFIS target.

At an annual population growth rate of 2.5 per cent, he stated that Nigeria’s population by 2020 would stand at about 210 million people and that 80 per cent of this number must be included.

According to him, the CBN had commissioned several initiatives to drive financial inclusion one of which was the introduction of the cashless policy aimed at promoting electronic payments and reducing the use of cash in business transactions.

A research officer at EFInA, Mrs Oluwatomi Eromosele, in her illustration of the 2018 EFInA Access to Financial (A2F) Services Survey, revealed that the sample size was 27,000 and that the results showed that 82 per cent of Nigerians were still paid in cash.

There was a 6.7 per cent decrease in savings as a result of rising unemployment and a case of institutional exclusion, with respondents stating that the banks were too far.

About 63.3 per cent of Nigerians were financially served made up of 48.7 per cent in the formal category and 14.6 per cent in the informal sector.

Mr Nkem Iheanachor (Faculty member, LBS) presented on Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Financial Services. He explained that LBS had identified six broad financially excluded customer segment types: Vulnerable Believers, Resilient Savers, Dependent Individualists, Digital Youth, Confident Optimists and Sceptical Cultivators.

At the end of the presentations, Mrs Aishah Ahmad (alternate Chair) appreciated members for their contributions and advocated for an action mindset to drive financial inclusion.

She acknowledged members sustained collaboration and urged all not to relent, so that by working together, the 20 per cent target by 2020 could be met.