Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), a financial sector development organization has released its 2018 survey that shows the number of people with access to financial services has increased, but the organization says there room for improvement as the formal labour market is not absorbing enough Nigerians.
The result of the EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2018 survey revealed that 39.50 million (39.70 percent of the adult population) have access to a formal bank account, while a further 8.9 million (9 percent) are banked formally through other means. Some 14.6 million (14.6 percent) use informal means for financial access, while 36.6 million people (36.8%) are financially excluded.
According to the financial sector development organization, of the total adult populations, 46.10 percent (22.7 million) are male while 33.30 percent (15.60 million) are female.
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“The aim of the report is to engage policy makers and the regulators to come up with the right regulations that will ensure the actualization of central bank’s vision of achieving 80 percent financial inclusion by 2020,” said Esaie Diei, Chief Executive Officer of EFInA. “The report will let us where we are and what we need to do,” said Diei.
On her part, Sarah Alade, former acting governor at Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is of the view that the survey will enable stakeholders with pragmatic solutions to bridging exclusion rate.
“It will help in the identification of best practices. The data will enhance the evolution of the financial market. The outcome of the survey will improve policy stance. We are also able to compare ourselves with other bench mark elsewhere,” said Alade.
Alade said that financial inclusion is impact long term economic growth and that the higher the money outside the banking system the more difficult it is to monitor money in circulation.
Indeed there is more money outside the financial system as over 97 percent of both subsistence farmers and business owners (farming and non-farming, and services) receive their income in cash, according to EFInA.
According to EFInA, majority of Nigerian adults set aside money but savings was low.
A breakdown shows savings in informal sector increased to 42.70 percent in 2018 from 31.40 percent in 2016. On the other hand, savings in banks fell to 38.30 percent in 2018 from 40.70 percent in 2016.
“The reason why the growth is not as expected is due to decline in savings in banks,” said Oluwatomi Eromosele, Research Officer, EFInA.
Stakeholders attribute the low savings culture to low disposable income, high unemployment rate, and sluggish economic growth.
According to a recent World Bank data, 92.10 percent of Nigerians live at below $5.50 a day. The reality is that most people cannot afford to buy a packet of Spaghetti or proteins.
