Stakeholders have urged the government to develop measures that would increase capital investment in the financial industry.
The Punch reported that this was stated at the PiggyVest Finance Roundtable Discussion on Tuesday in Lagos.
The event’s stakeholders discussed how the results of the PiggyVest Savings Report 2023 survey would affect the financial situation in Nigeria in 2024 and beyond.
Twenty per cent of Nigerians, or one in five, reportedly have no income, and of those who do, three out of ten earned less than N100k per month, which makes up the majority of the nation’s income earners.
It showed that the likelihood of having many sources of income was lowest among Gen Z earners.
The report went on to say that more than 20% of Nigerians do not save any portion of their earnings.
Just one in four Nigerians have enough emergency savings to last them the advised six months, according to the research, which also indicated that emigration was a big factor in Nigerians’ decision to save.
More than a thousand Nigerians of all ages, genders, and income levels participated in a PiggyVest survey last year to discuss their debt management, saving and spending practices, and long-term financial goals. On October 31, 2023, World Savings Day, a detailed report containing all of the findings was released.
A panellist at the event, Emmanuel Ojo, said that increasing finance for Nigerians and businesses could be done through collaboration.
According to him, the government could assist by implementing laws and initiatives that would entice capitalists to make investments in the banking sector.
“The government can’t accomplish everything. We must make the most of the policies and other tools at our disposal to empower women, including security, safeguarding girls and women, and enabling women to pursue higher education in certain fields in Nigeria or any other African nation,” he said.
In an effort to lower imports, he also asked the government to support local content as much as possible.
“However, you must ensure that the infrastructure is operational in order to decrease importation. We can request those things from the government,” he stated.
The managing director of Minimalist & Co Ltd, Dolapo Adebayo, and another panellist, said, “I can tell you for free that government is far removed from the people. That’s what all these talks about policies are about. In the same manner that none of us here in this room is close to Nigeria’s issues.”
He demanded that Nigerians receive better financial education, saying, “I’m not talking about the complex languages.” Make financial literacy simpler. That and financial honesty are similar.
“This just demonstrates that there is a benefit when someone gives you N10, which you then return. If you are unable to repay the N10, you must provide an explanation or advance warning. The low-hanging fruit is that. The easy fruit requires a lot of work.
The co-founder and chief executive officer of PiggyVest, Odun Eweniyi, made the following statement outside the event: “The government has a responsibility to play. Without interventions, innovation can only accomplish so much.”
Therefore, cooperation between the government and the private sector people like the panellists here today, for example will ultimately lead to improvement. For us to be able to keep moving forward, we require roads and electricity. Working together is the solution and the government does have a role to play in that.
