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make sound financial decisions and have positive engagements with financial institutions. Basically, Efina ' s access to financial services surveys( which commenced in 2008) show that there is an obvious gender gap in financial access. Specifically, in 2014, 21.4 million females( 42.7 % of the total adult female population) were financially excluded compared to 15.6 million males, that is, 35.8 % of the total adult male population. In 2012, 43.5 % of the total adult female population was financially excluded compared to 36.1 % of the total adult male population. Closing the gender gap must necessarily start with recognizing the extent of the problem. Financial institutions in the banking sector are now mandatorily required under Principle 5 of the Nigeria Sustainable Banking Principles, to develop products and services that target women. But with low levels of knowledge and awareness of financial products and services being the financial capability dimension that most characterizes the demand-side in Nigeria, achieving gender parity in financial inclusion will evidently require more than the availability of women-specific offerings.
Import of Financial Literacy Baseline Survey Crucially, the recently released Nigeria Financial
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Literacy Baseline Survey( FinLit Survey), has identified market segments in which women p r e d o m i n a te, fo r ex a mple, farming, microenterprise and marginalized rural communities particularly those in the North West and North East geopolitical zones. By having recourse to credible empirical evidence from the FinLit Survey about their financial behaviour, attitudes and practices, sources of advice and media usage, it should be possible to design targeted financial education initiatives aimed at driving uptake and usage of financial products and services by women. This is a far more effective approach to achieving gender parity in financial inclusion than simply mandating financial institutions to demonstrate progress in providing women-specific offerings. In other words, financial education will be critical to achieving gender parity in financial inclusion in Nigeria.
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Network on Financial Literacy Launches
8 March 2016 – At a meeting held at the DIN Resource Centre, leading players in the financial literacy field in Nigeria agreed to launch a new network, the National Financial Inclusion Network( NAFIN), that will advocate for and amplify the key message that achieving financial capability of all Nigerians is integral to the drive for financial inclusion. It was also agreed that NAFIN ' s vision and mission statement shall be as follows:
Vision: A Nigeria where all persons are financially capable for social and economic development.
Mission statement: A national network championing financial inclusion through advocacy, networking and knowledge sharing to all stakeholders.
NAFIN will only have registered organizations as members. The founding members are Ajapaworld; LYNX Nigeria; Development Initiatives Network( DIN); Junior Achievement Nigeria( JAN); Mercy Corps Nigeria; SOS Children ' s Villages; Fate Foundation and Financial Literacy for All. The launch of NAFIN is in clear recognition that the nonprofit / charitable sector should have a cohesive platform for sustaining effective stakeholder engagements. NAFIN ' s schedule of activities for 2016 will be released shortly.
1. The Nigeria Financial Literacy Baseline Survey was published by the CBN in 2015. It involved a sample size of over 13,000 respondents from both rural and urban areas with 50.3 % being women.
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