The Nigerian Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has said that the federal government is committed to integrating the approximately 30 million unbanked Nigerians into the official financial system.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications, Stanley Nkwocha on Thursday.
The VP stated this during a high-level policy dialogue between the Nigerian government and private sector stakeholders held in Washington DC, the United States capital.
In keeping with the pledge, the vice president stated that financial innovation is desperately needed to further Nigeria’s ambition for financial inclusion and economic growth.
The initiative intends to use a new approach to build a sustainable and equitable financial system in Nigeria. It brought together leaders of the fintech industry, government officials, regulators, and law enforcement organizations at George Washington University.
In his address via video conference, Shettima stressed that partnership across all stakeholders is necessary to achieve financial inclusion in Nigeria.
“We must develop a sustainable collaboration approach that will facilitate the adoption of inclusive payment to achieve our objective of economic and financial inclusion,” he stated.
The discussion centered on tackling important obstacles that have impeded the mainstream adoption of creative financial solutions, such as regulatory control, security concerns, and trust issues in Nigeria’s fintech industry.
Earlier, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Sen. Ibrahim Hadejia, said, “While the Office of the Vice President has given priority to economic and financial inclusion, it is expected that each agency of government will continue to play their statutory role collaboratively to achieve the set objective.”
Meanwhile, Also, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria in charge of Financial System Stability, Philip Ikeazor pointed out that to accomplish the goals of the Aso Accord on Economic and Financial Inclusion, all parties involved must continue to work together.
A 2023 ‘Access to Finance’ survey conducted by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), a financial sector deepening (FSD) organisation, revealed that financial inclusion in Nigeria increased to 74% in 2023, up from 68% in 2020.
