to full maturity the provision of formal
microfinance through the new shareholderowned MFBs. A more recent milestone is the
introduction of the revised NMP in 2011.
Future Outlook
Essentially, the National Strategy promotes a
bank-led approach to harnessing technology to
accelerate the uptake of financial products in
the five key areas of payments, savings, credit,
insurance and pensions and it has
benchmarked penetration targets for each
product in the short term, that is, by 2015 and
the long term by 2020. In addition, it prioritizes
the use of channels such as mobile, ATMs, POS,
mobile and non-bank retail agents as well as
client benefits in the form of tiered know-yourcustomer (KYC) procedures, consumer
protection and financial literacy. Critically, the
National Strategy has introduced key
performance indicators (KPIs) and provides for
the establishment of a multi-stakeholder
Financial Inclusion Committee,2 which will track
and review progress of financial inclusion in
Nigeria. But the National Strategy is by no means
a comprehensive codification of applicable
targets, strategies, roles and responsibilities.
First, targeting adults only in the definition of
financial inclusion ignores the demographic
realities of Nigeria's predominantly youthful
population. Secondly, the stakeholders in
financial inclusion have been narrowly defined
by the focus on the State (enablers) and the
private sector (providers). But supporters such
as nonprofits, educational providers and
professional and business associations
responsible for the training and certification of
sector professionals hardly merit a mention.
Also, the KPIs and the data inputs for the FIC do
not encompass the collection of age and sexdisaggregated data that will be critical to making
age and gender-based comparisons of access to
and uptake of financial products. Furthermore,
the National Strategy does not clarify the
relevance of consumer credit in promoting
financial inclusion despite previous initiatives
aimed at increasing credit provision from nonfinancial institutions. It should be further noted
that the preeminent position given to banking
infrastructure and services means that other
financial markets such as insurance and
pensions will need to formulate detailed
3
financial inclusion policies. Pointedly, there is
no reference to encouraging access to or uptake
of financial instruments in Nigeria's capital
market.
Conclusion
Nigeria has already recorded impressive gains in
closing the financial services gap. Ultimately,
the challenge is to ensure that policy, regulatory
and market actions on financial inclusion deliver
improvements in the quality of life of all
Nigerians whether children, youths or adults.
Policy makers, regulators and providers should
collaborate with supporting stakeholders in the
design and delivery of innovative financial
products from the point of view that the
responsibility for increasing financial inclusion
is not only regulatory and supervisory but also
promotional and extends beyond the providers.
In conclusion, financial inclusion matters
because national and individual prosperity will
depend on it.
Achieving Gender Parity in Financial Inclusion
Evidence of Gender Gap
Nigeria, in common with many other countries,
celebrated International Women's Day, which is
marked on 8 March every year. The theme for
2016 is Pledge for Parity. There is therefore no
better time to question to what extent there has
been progress in ensuring that women in Nigeria
are not only financially included but also
financially capable in the sense that they have
the knowledge and awareness of financial
products and services and the confidence to
2. This Committee was inaugurated on 29 January 2015.
3. In the insurance sector, microinsurance and takaful insurance guidelines have been introduced.
New Perspectives 8