FINANCIAL experts have called for gender balance in stimulating financial inclusive growth in the country.
The call was made at the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) 2019 Financial Inclusion Conference held in Lagos.
Speaking on the topic: ‘Financial Inclusion as a Tool to Unlock Nigeria’s Potential and Enable Inclusive Economic Growth’, Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Aishah Ahmad described inclusive growth as being productive, long term, broad-based to provide all sectors of the society with economic opportunities.
Ahmad said that for growth to be sustainable, it must be inclusive and women and youth in particular must have access to resources that would enable them to earn incomes and improve their livelihoods.
The research conducted by the CBN and EFInA and launched finds that differences between men and women in education, income and trust in financial service providers contribute to the gender gap in financial access.
Ahmed stated that “This data will help policy-makers and practitioners to develop initiatives that drive financial institutions to ensure financial inclusion.”
She said that the country’s growth was arguably fragile even with it being the largest economy in Africa, rich in oil and gas and other natural resources which give government 90 per cent revenue.
“It is now obvious that elevation and contribution of all citizens including youths, women and other marginalised of the economy maybe the key to the significant rapid growth and beginning to sustain it.
“Financial literacy, actions lined up from now to 2020 will help, and policymakers need to put this at the forefront of their objectives,” she said.
Also, British Deputy High Commissioner (DHC) Harriet Thompson noted that core issues like education stand at the root of the financial gender gap in Nigeria, saying that “We need to understand the much wider picture for women in Nigeria, and tackle it from all angles. That’s why our UKAID programmes in Nigeria are targeting over one million young girls to improve their educational outcomes.
“Creating an environment for investment in pro-poor and pro-women financial services, and moving the private sector into that space, is one of the major challenges our regulators face in the coming months and years, and we are delighted that EFInA will be standing side-by-side with the CBN and others like Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) , to help make that happen.”
Chairman, Board of Directors, EFInA, Mr. Segun Akerele, said that EFInA Financial Inclusion Conference was an annual event which sought to engage stakeholders in the financial sector to identify opportunities to promote financial inclusion.
According to him, building an inclusive financial sector will help to put in place enabling national policy and regulatory environment that fully meet stakeholders need to strengthen economic inclusion for the unbanked and underbanked segment.
“It will seek to catalyse the creation of inclusive financial services for the excluded population by combining commercial objectives with social ones through local policy and practice innovations.
“With the theme, we hope to examine the transformative power of financial inclusion and its potential to accelerate inclusive economic growth through poverty reduction, employment generation and wealth creation,” he said.
and then