- Apex bank sets 90% financial inclusion target
From Nduka Chiejina, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday lamented the impact of the raging controversy between banks and mobile network operators (MNOs) over the N120 billion Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debt, which has led to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) giving approval to the MNOs to stop banks from using telecoms infrastructure to carry out banking transaction.
CBN Governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele, in his keynote address at the launch of SabiMoni e-learning platform in Abuja, said the protracted fight over the USSD debt owed the telecoms companies by the deposit money banks (DMBs) has been on for three years.
He lamented that it had been a herculean task trying to mediate on the debt issue between the DMBs and the MNOs, warning that if it is not resolved urgently, ordinary Nigerians, especially “users of banking services will suffer”.
Emefiele, however, assured of quick resolution of the dispute because of its adverse impact on deepening financial inclusion among rural dwellers.
“The USSD technology was brought into place primarily because we felt that it will be a deep enabler of our vulnerable people living in the nooks and crannies in Nigeria; those who we need to encourage to really get into the financial inclusion programmes of the CBN.
“Everything had been done to deepen our payment system infrastructure through various mechanisms. At some point we said we will bring the telcos into it and then there was a tug of war between the banks about how they should share the income and of course you have heard the story about USSD which we are making deliberate effort to resolve because it was a thug of war between the banks and mobile network operators,’’ he added.
“I am very certain that we are going to get to the end of it, because if we do not resolve the problem the people who will suffer when this kind of disagreement goes on will be the users of banking sector services,” Emefiele said.
The apex bank also set a new target of bringing 90 per cent of the population into the financial system.
To this end, it launched a financial literacy platform to educate Nigerians on the gains of financial inclusion.
Having failed to meet the 80 per cent financial inclusion target in 2022, the CBN has now vowed to increase the financial inclusion rate in Nigeria to 95 per cent.
He said “we were about 48 per cent or 50 per cent inclusion rate when Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Queen Maxima of The Netherlands came, we made a promise that by the end of 2022 we would have gone close to about 80 per cent financial inclusion.
“Unfortunately, where we are today, which is just below 70 per cent mark, we will do everything possible to meet the target by January 2024 to 95 per cent rate of financial inclusion”.
Speaking to the ‘SabiMoni’ platform that was launched yesterday, Emefiele noted that “to address the financial inclusion gaps, the National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2022, identified increasing adoption and usage of financial services in priority demographics comprising of the most vulnerable segments such as women, youth, MSMEs, rural dwellers and especially, the Northern part of the country as well as expansion of Digital Financial Services and Platforms amongst its strategic priority areas.
To enable them to achieve these, the CBN Governor said “we must take deliberate steps to upscale financial capability through financial education programmes. The shortage of skilled and experienced persons to drive financial education remains a major hindrance” he said.
The SabiMoni Financial Literacy e-Learning Platform he disclosed “will enable us drive financial education physically through the Certified Financial Literacy Trainers at the locations where it is most needed. It will enable us to drive Digital Financial Literacy thereby boosting consumer confidence in the uptake and utilization of Digital Financial Services.
He added that “the SabiMoni portal will serve as a repository of information not only for learners but also for researchers in the most effective manner”.
Earlier, Director, Consumer Protection Department of the CBN, Mrs. Rashida Monguno, said: “SabiMoni was conceived as an avenue for driving financial education amongst the target segment of the Nigerian population that would facilitate financial education programmes for end beneficiaries.
“It will also support efforts at enhancing financial inclusion through digitalization. It would serve as a channel for propagating Digital Financial Literacy thereby ramping up adoption and usage of Digital Financial Services.
With the launch of the SabiMoni platform, she said Nigeria will “now have a knowledge base where individuals can learn about financial literacy at their own pace from their comfort zones and with ease.