CBN to launch key policy documents to attain 80% financial inclusion by 2020

CBN holds two-day conference on financial inclusion.
The apex bank to unveil the Revised National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS 2.0), the Financial Literacy Framework, the Consumer Protection Framework and the Consumer Education framework and other documents.

Nigeria's central bank (CBN) will on Thursday, launched key policy documents aimed at facilitating the attainment of the financial inclusion target of 80% by 2020.

The CBN, in a statement issued on Monday, January 14, 2018, said the launching will take place during an Abuja conference, which will attract over 400 delegates.

The policy documents to be unveiled include the Revised National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS 2.0), the Financial Literacy Framework, the Consumer Protection Framework and the Consumer Education framework.

According to the statement, the two-day conference will be declared open by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and participants will get updates on the growing sophistication of the financial market, the competitive environment where financial services providers operated and the benefit and value of providing access to financial services, among others.

The conference is to ensure the adequate protection and education of newcomers into the financial inclusion bracket with the provisions of the policy documents.

According to Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), about 36.6 million Nigerian adults, representing about 36.8% of the Nigerian adult population, do not have access to formal financial Services.

To achieve its financial inclusion target, Nigeria, through the National Financial Inclusion stakeholders seeks to cut the exclusion rate down to 20 per cent by the year 2020, hence various public and private organisations under the auspices of National Financial inclusion stakeholders have been working assiduously since the launch of the first National Financial Inclusion Strategy in 2012 to achieve the objective of 80 per cent inclusion by 2020.

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To close the wide gap, Dipo Fatokun, Director, Banking & Payment Systems, CBN, last year, stated that the apex bank is committed to reducing the population of unbanked Nigerians to at least 20% by 2020.

As part of the plans, the CBN issued draft guidelines for licencing and regulations of PSBs in Nigeria. The apex bank said it is part of the agreement to bring the figure of unbanked adults down to 20% by 2020 through its National Financial Inclusion Strategy.

In a similar report by Agusto & Co., it stated the future of banking in Nigeria lies with the retail market and with banks ensuring that this segment of the market is well served using digital solutions.

The report stated that “millennials”, are available targets that can be on-boarded into the banking system through digital solutions like mobile and agency banking.