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  • EFInA releases states’ fact sheets

    EFInA releases states’ fact sheets

    Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) has announced the release of its States’ Fact Sheets, the first resource of its kind in Nigeria, delivering a detailed, state-by-state analysis of sub-national financial ecosystems.

    EFInA is a financial sector development organisation working to promote financial inclusion in Nigeria. Through research, innovation grants, and advocacy, EFInA supports the development of inclusive financial systems that benefit the unbanked and underserved.

    The States’ Fact Sheets is a comprehensive resource designed to shed light on the financial landscape across various states and provide actionable insights for policymakers, financial institutions, and development stakeholders.

    One of the standout findings of EFInA’s States’ Fact Sheets is that banking penetration varies greatly across states, with penetration highest in Kogi (94 per cent), while Lagos is 91 per cent, and Ekiti, 77 per cent, reflecting strong financial ecosystems in these regions.

    However, states like Borno (13%), Yobe (22%), and Sokoto (22%) report significantly lower levels, underscoring challenges in reaching underserved populations.

    From 2020 to 2023, financial inclusion in Kogi State was driven by intervention schemes like the Anchor Borrowers’ Program, World Bank partnerships, and COVID-19 loans, which encouraged account opening.

    Commodity-based cooperatives, particularly among rice farmers, benefited from targeted programs despite challenges with bank collateral requirements.

    High literacy levels and mobile phone penetration (99% ownership) facilitated access to banking, while rural-urban migration increased the demand for remittance services. Financial service agents also expanded access in areas lacking bank branches.

    Another of its findings is the challenge of financial exclusion, as inancial exclusion remains a pressing issue, with states like Borno (68%), Zamfara (57%), and Sokoto (60%) experiencing some of the highest levels of exclusion.

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    Conversely, states such as Lagos (2%), Delta (4%), and Kogi (3%) have made significant strides in reducing exclusion.

    There is also the role of informal financial systems. EFInA said informal financial services remain prevalent in certain states, such as Ebonyi (37%) and Benue (24%), noting that these figures highlight the reliance on informal channels in areas where formal financial systems are less accessible.

    Under the “Other Formal” opportunity, EFInA said in some states, non-bank financial services such as mobile money are gaining traction. For instance, states like Kebbi (22%) and Kwara (22%) show relatively high reliance on “other formal” financial providers, presenting an opportunity to deepen financial inclusion through alternative channels.

    With regard to regional disparities in financial access, EFInA said Southern states like Ekiti (77% banked), Delta (77%), and Edo (71%) demonstrate strong formal financial participation compared to northern states such as Katsina (30%), Kano (32%), and Kebbi (24%).

    It stated that bridging these regional gaps will require tailored strategies that address unique state-level challenges.

    Under exclusion in conflict-affected areas, EFInA said conflict-affected regions face some of the highest financial exclusion rates. For example, 68% of adults in Borno and 45% in Taraba are excluded from financial services, emphasizing the need for innovative approaches in such areas.

    States like Kogi (94%) and Lagos (91%) showcase the potential for widespread financial access through robust financial ecosystems. However, replicating this success in underrepresented regions remains a challenge.

    States like Zamfara (57% excluded) and Sokoto (60% excluded) face significant barriers that demand targeted interventions. Informal financial services are crucial in areas like Ebonyi and Benue but must be complemented by efforts to bring these users into formal systems.

    The A2F State Factsheet is more than a document—it’s a tool for action. By understanding the financial landscape at the state level, all relevant the stakeholders can collectively work towards a future where everyone has the tools they need to succeed economically. This factsheet equips stakeholders with the insights they need to drive impactful change.

  • EFInA, British High Commission give $2m to FinTech winners

    The Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) and the British High Commission to Nigeria have given $2 million grant to CredPal, Capricom Digital, RIBY, SmartTeller, ExtraMile Africa and Social Lender for winning the FinTech Challenge.

    The winners were announced during an event  on Power Financial Inclusion in Nigeria,  attended by representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other stakeholders in the FinTech industry. The event, with theme: Powering Financial Inclusion through Fintech focused on ways to attract more funding  and better regulation to grow the ecosystem.

    EFInA’s Board Chairman, Segun Akerele, highlighted the challenges faced by the industry in Nigeria. He  explained that understanding global market trends and other success factors remain important in improving the national ecosystem.

    He said with over $250 million in cumulative funding and about 200 active FinTech ventures operating in the digital retail payments, lending and payments infrastructure spaces, the Nigerian industry is one of the most active in the world. However, 36.8 per cent of Nigerian adults are still excluded from the formal economy and basic financial services, even though they have access to mobile phones.

    Emphasising the importance of collaboration, the Chief Executive Officer of EFInA, Esaie Diei, commended the industry stakeholders for their commitment to expanding access to financial inclusion in Nigeria. He explained that several organisations are working to ensure that CBN’s 2020 Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) plan to reduce financial exclusion to 20 per cent is achieved.

    He explained that the  EFInA Fintech Challenge Fund was created to provide financial services that are accessible to everyone especially the low-income segment, improve customer experience, enhance the transparency of financial services and increase the adoption of financial services with reliable, valuable and affordable products.

    “The CBN’s NFIS is intended to create a level playing field that focuses on driving collaborative activities among actors while also adopting a risk-based approach”, Head, Digital Financial Services at the CBN, Stephen Ambore, said.

    Head of Innovation, EFInA, Dayo Ademola, explained that successful FinTech industries across the world have focused on product innovation, strategic partnerships, physical and digital mix, and also lowering barriers to services.

    “The industry witnessed a big boom in 2015. While investors were a little skeptical about the market in 2017, we are currently witnessing a resurgence”, she said while unveiling EFInA’s Global and Nigerian Fintech Landscape Survey.

    Chief Executive Officer, EFInA, Esaie Diei, explained that recommendations from the Global and Nigerian Fintech Landscape Survey have been shared with the CBN.

    CBN’s Head, Digital Financial Services, Segun Ambore, disclosed that opportunities should be provided for start-ups to access funds without collaterals.

    British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Laure Beaufils, lauded EFInA for its commitment to financial inclusion, adding that Nigeria is central in United Kingdom’s objectives to accelerate financial inclusion in Africa.

    She further explained that Fintech is clearly part of the solution to Nigeria’s low levels of financial inclusion and should help in building partnership between Nigeria and UK businesses.

    She said aside providing the grants and incubation support, the FinTech grant beneficiaries will be sent to UK Fintech week later this month.

  • EFInA laments high cost of banking services

    The Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) has said that high cost of providing banking services, (affordability), institutional exclusion and lack of awareness are the three  biggest obstacles to financial inclusion.

    According to EFInA report, 60.1 million Nigerians do not have/use a bank account, 96.3 million do not have/use mobile money and 97.9 million do not have insurance.

    It explained that on the digital usage in the country, it revealed that mobile money, which was thought to be useful in the financial inclusion drive, was found to only deepen rather than expand financial inclusion. The report therefore revealed that while 35.5 million Nigerians (36.6 per cent of the adult population) use bank accounts only 3.0 million adults have both mobile money and bank accounts, whereas 59.4 million (60 per cent) neither have mobile money nor bank account.

    Similarly, the study showed that while 82 per cent of Nigerian adults, comprising of subsistence farmers and small business owners, receive their income in cash, 10 per cent of those adults receive their own income via mobile money or bank account, while another eight per cent did not receive any income at all.

    It said that savings in the country dropped by 13.3 per cent according to the report, while savings in assets, property, and livestock had risen from 47.4 million to 54.7 million since 2016. Other decrease in respect of this indicator was that of borrowing, which went down by 2.0 per cent and remittances to one per cent.          On financial access by gender, the report indicated that out of 99.6 million adults in the country, 33.5 million male adult Nigerians were financially included compared with 29.4 million female adults.

    This represents a decrease in the exclusion rate of 4.3 per cent and 5.7 per cent in the male and female gender respectively, and a decrease of 4.8 per cent for both gender compared with the 2016 figures.

    On financial access by age groups, the report revealed that Nigerians in the age bracket of 36 to 45 (19.5 million and 30.6 per cent exclusion) have more access to finance than all others. This group was followed by those in the age bracket of 26 to 35 (30.3 million and 31.5 per cent exclusion) and 46 to 55 (10.9 million and 32.4 per cent exclusion).

    The exclusion rate between the urban and rural areas showed that only 21.6 per cent Nigerians in the urban areas were excluded compared with 45.6 per cent Nigerians in the rural areas. The gains recorded on this indicator revealed a decrease of 2.8 per cent  and 6.6 per cent exclusion rate in the urban and rural areas respectively, as well as 4.8 per cent exclusion rate recorded in total since the year 2016.

  • EFInA: Mobile money, agent banking acceptance still low

    Despite the rapid growth in many  emerging markets and the high penetration rate of mobile phones in Nigeria, the uptake and awareness of Mobile Money and Agent Banking have been persistently low, Programme Specialist, Agent Networks at EFInA, Henry Chukwu, has said.

    Statistics show that 60.4 per cent of adults in the country have access to mobile phones, but only one per cent use mobile money and 16 per centagent banking, according to the EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2016 Survey.

    Chukwu, who is an expert in Digital Financial Services (DFS), Inclusive products, Banking, Agent Networks, Project Management, Business Development and Operational Strategies, explained that EFInA is a financial sector development organisation focused on making the financial sector work better for the poor. The body is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development.

    “Mobile money is an obvious channel for Nigerians at the bottom of the pyramid to use as they adopt financial services for the first time. Up to 25 mobile money Operators (MMOs) have been licensed since the launch of mobile money service in Nigeria in 2009. Despite this large number of MMOs, high mobile phone and SIM card ownership, mobile money uptake and usage is still low in Nigeria.

    “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued the Guidelines for Agent Banking and Agent Banking Relationships in Nigeria in 2013; and the Operating Framework for Super Agent in 2015 in its bid to deepen the uptake of mobile money and agent banking products. However, the uptake of mobile money and agent banking services still remain low in Nigeria,” he said.

    Continuing, he said low awareness, access and trust were some of the key obstacles affecting the uptake of mobile money in the country. Awareness and understanding however remain important drivers of mobile money uptake and usage. Customers need to be fully aware of the mobile money service and understand how it could be beneficial to them. To ensure mobile money and agent banking services get the best visibility possible in Nigeria, operators need to consider a wide variety of marketing strategies and options.

    “Based on findings from the EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2016 Survey, the fact that 73.4 per cent of adults who have not heard of mobile money are prepared to use new technology shows an immense opportunity for mobile money and agent banking penetration in Nigeria.

    ‘’EFInA has, therefore, developed and engaged in different initiatives, working closely with financial services providers and the regulator to promote awareness, uptake and usage of these services in Nigeria,” he added.

    Some of the low-cost options which have been identified for improving mobile money awareness in Nigeria include word of mouth/confidence, which usually result from up-and-running platforms, liaisons/collaboration with community or market leaders, campaigns through Local Transport Systems such as slogans and pictures displayed in buses and mass awareness campaigns through market storms, road shows, use of branded items and leveraging on existing market clusters or the different associations.

    Other avenues, Chukwu said, include referral method (Loyalty) which could be effective as 41.5 per cent of those aware of, mobile money heard through family and friends and set up awareness booths at local festivals/fairs/community events.

    He said EFInA recently collaborated with the CBN and financial services providers to conduct mass awareness campaigns in selected local government areas in the North. These awareness campaigns have helped the industry to deepen the understanding, uptake and usage of mobile moneyand agent banking services in the campaign locations. Some of the impacts which have been reported include recruitment of over 500 new financial services agents; On-boarding of new customers on the mobile money wallets and banks’ financial products.

    It also include activation of financial services in Kiru community of Kano State which had no bank presence before the awareness campaign and; positioning of financial services agents in locations where there are insufficient bank presence.

    “We plan to conduct these campaigns in phases, as we make progress on these different collaborations and initiatives being implemented with stakeholders in the mobile money and agent banking space,” he added.

     

  • EFInA, CcHub promote financial inclusion

    Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), Nigeria’s leading financial sector development organisation and CcHub, hosted  a FinTech roundtable session in Lagos with the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Charles Bowman; Financial sector regulators and financial technology (FinTech) companies and other stakeholders.

    During a presentation on ‘Financial inclusion, the regulatory landscape and opportunities for FinTechs to promote Financial Inclusion in Nigeria’, the Electronic Payment Specialist for EFInA, Folasade Agbejule, said “EFInA’s mission is to spur growth in the financial development sector by providing grants to financial services operators through the Innovation Fund.

    EFInA targets the economically deprived population by sharing risks with Financial Service Providers (FSPs) through its Technical Assistance Grant and the Innovation Grant subsidies to the amount of $250,000 and $2 million.

    As part of its mission to promote financial inclusion in Nigeria EFInA desires to improve the existing infrastructure in the financial sector so that  FinTechs can play  an increasing role in the efficient delivery of financial services to the un(der) banked in Nigeria.

    EFInA Board Chair, Segun Akerele, in his welcome address, emphasised the importance of the company’s partnership with the Department for International Development (DFID) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation while identifying foreign collaborations and regulatory principles that can catalyse and accelerate local growth in the financial service sector.

    Furthermore, he stated that the difficulties associated with access to financial services has led to a  large population of unbanked adults and  encouraged  FinTechs and financial service providers  to develop more innovative financial inclusive products. He also appealed to regulators to take  lessons from the United Kingdom’s regulatory principles.

    Managing Partner, CcHub Growth Capital Fund, Tunji Elesho commenced the round table discussion saying: “Our goal today is to explore the immense opportunities for growth in Nigeria’s FinTech ecosystem and that way, allow users improve their lives and take control of their financial situation”

  • EFInA hosts FinTech forum in Lagos

    Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) has organised a Financial Technology (FinTech) breakfast meeting in Lagos.

    The group is targeting the economically-deprived population by focusing on agent networks, electronic payment, financial inclusive products and services, especially across Northern Nigeria, women and financial literacy projects.

    EFInA’s Board Chairman, Segun Akerele, said the “essence of the forum is to request information from FinTechs on how EFInA can stimulate innovation targeted at the financially excluded through its grants, advocacy, research and capacity building”. He addressed over 40 different FinTech companies, regulators and digital financial service consultants that attended the forum.

    Akerele also appealed to the forum to see the financially excluded as partners and an asset in the bid to boost economic growth and increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    EFInA’s Programme Specialists – Payments, Folasade Agbejule, said the body’s access to 2016 financials survey, which covers about 23,000 respondents across Nigeria, 41.6 per cent of adults are financially excluded even though they have access to mobile phones. Also, these adults do not have access to formal and informal financial services.  The digital financial service system has a role to play in this situation to reach low income earners and people in the rural areas.

    Also, Associate Principal at Mckinsey and Company, Topsy Kola Oyeneyin, said there are huge potentials for digital involvement in Nigeria’s financial services, but this can only be attained if the three required building blocks are put in place.

     

  • Only 24% of Nigerians have BVN, says EFInA report

    Only 24% of Nigerians have BVN, says EFInA report

    The Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), a financial sector development organisation, has said that only 24 per cent of Nigerians have Bank Verification Number (BVN). The figure is contained in the Access to Finance 2016 Survey Data meant to promote the role of government in driving financial inclusion in Nigeria.

    The Chair of EFInA’s Board, Modupe Ladipo, shared barriers responsible for increasing the financially excluded population in Nigeria. She indicated that “generally, income levels in Nigeria are very low. She said that 19.6 per cent of Nigerians mainly get their source of income from non-farming business while 19.1 per cent get theirs from family business (subsistence or commercial farming).

    Only 4.2 per cent of the adult population get their source of income from the formal sector. In addition, she commented that EFInA observed that the north has a high level of financial exclusion. This is as a result of massive job losses, limited resources and no basic necessities of opening a bank account.

    “Out of 96.4 million adults in Nigeria, 56.3 million (58.4 per cent of the adult population) are now financially served. Also, 40.1 million Nigerian adults (41.6 per cent of the adult population) are financially excluded (without any form of access to financial services). The National Financial Inclusion Strategy target is to lower this figure to 20 per cent of the adult population by 2020,” she said.

    She highlighted the issue of inaccurate data in assessing economic growth in Nigeria. ‘‘There are lots of issues in terms of validation and credibility. According to National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), only six per cent of Nigerians are duly registered as at 2016. Only 24 per cent of the population has a Bank Verification Number (BVN). We really need to devise how to get a unique form of identification so that we can start to address some of these issues,” she said.

    The EFInA hosted a workshop with stakeholders such as the Federal Government, United Nations (UN), Heads of Federal Financial Inclusion Initiatives, Academics, Financial Institutions and Financial Services Regulators in Nigeria to advocate for the implementation of policies to drive financial inclusion in Nigeria.  The theme of the workshop was ‘’The Role of Government in Driving Financial Inclusion in Nigeria’’.

    She emphasized that the number of microfinance adult users declined from 2.6 million in 2014 to 1.8 million in 2016. There is a general problem around trust as the licenses of some microfinance banks have been revoked. With a lot of bank charges, account owners are left with little money in their bank account.

    Currently Nigeria has 58.2 million unique mobile phone users, the contrast to 27 million using mobile banking. This underscores the immense potential which mobile banking shows for advancing financial inclusion.

    The Governor of Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, in his address delivered by Director, Development Financing, CBN, Mudashiru Olaitan, explained that initiatives like the BVN scheme and others have addressed issues connected to identification in the banking system

  • Expert advocates raise in capital requirements for microfinance banks

    Expert advocates raise in capital requirements for microfinance banks

    The Chairman of Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), Miss Modupe Ladipo, has advised Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to raise capital requirements for microfinance banks to drive financial inclusion.

    Ladipo gave the advice at the Accion Microfinance Bank Financial Inclusion Conference held on Saturday in Lagos.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference had the theme: “Making Financial Inclusion a Certainty in Nigeria by 2020’’.

    The year 2020 Financial Inclusion targets to provide universal financial access to all working age adults by 2020.

    According to the EFInA boss, although more than 50 microfinance policies have been formulated to drive financial inclusion, a research conducted in 2016 shows that 41.6 per cent of Nigerians are financially excluded.

    “In 2008, research conducted by EFInA revealed that about 53.5 per cent were financially excluded but CBN monetary policies such as mobile money transactions, agency banking system and micro insurance reduced it to 29.1 in 2014.

    “ But as at 2016, the percentage of the financially excluded shot up to 41.6 per cent.’’ she said.

    She claimed that the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM)’s micro insurance policy had not impacted much on financial inclusion.

    The microfinance expert said that there was an urgent need for CBN to increase capital requirements for microfinance banks so that more Nigerians could be brought into the financial net through micro finance.

    “How many Nigerians will benefit from N20 million capital requirement for unit microfinance banks?’’ she asked.

    The Managing Director of ACCION Microfinance Bank, Mrs Olubunmi Lawson, said that the bank would continually drive financial inclusion using digital process.

    She said that the bank had granted N6 billion loans to 169,000 customers since it was established in 2006.

    “The bank also has 60 branches including in seven states.”

    NAN reports that Accion Microfinance Bank was established to economically empower micro-entrepreneurs and low income earners by providing financial services in a sustainable, ethical and profitable manner.

  • EFInA gives $1.5m to support mobile banking

    Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) has awarded $1.5 million or about N421.5 million from its Innovation Grant to support Diamond Bank’s Diamond Y’ello Account (DYA), a mobile banking platform which was built on MTN Xaas platform.

    The DYA was built on a platform powered by CWG Plc. It was designed to enable MTN subscribers; which include the largely unbanked and under-banked populace in Nigeria, enjoy banking services from Diamond Bank using their mobile phones within the convenience of their varying locations. It provides easy access to a broad range of financial products tailored to meet consumers’ needs, at an affordable cost. These include bills payment, savings, retail collections, micro-credit and insurance transactions

    Speaking on the development, Mr James Agada, Chief Executive Officer, CWG Plc observed that the DYA has demonstrated significant prospects, hence no surprise on the investment by EFInA.

    According to him, within a period of a little over 12 months, the Diamond Yello Account has enabled over 6 million subscriber’s access banking services with ease. The EFInA grant shows that these giant strides are being recognized and this will challenge us at CWG to do more in deploying technology solutions that enable growth.

    The Innovation Grant, as released by EFInA to support the DYA; ‘Winning the North’ project, is intended to enhance financial inclusion to the unbanked in the North East and North West geopolitical zones, who have more financially excluded citizens than other parts of the Nation, as referenced in the EFInA Access Financial services in Nigeria 2014 survey. Furthermore, it is anticipated that this project will aid tilt the variances in the Financial sector; enabling the operators an opportunity to upgrade the features of the DYA in order to allow customers do more and cover a broader geographical base.

    It should be noted that CWG has worked in partnerships with other banks in the past, deploying innovative technology based products that enable customers’ access financial and other value added services through their mobile phones.

    CWG has also deployed the Finacle Banking Application to 60 per cent of the financial institutions, enhancing their operations and currently deploys about a third of the aggregate ATMs presently in the country.

  • EFInA boosts mobile banking with $1.5m

    Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) has awarded $1.5 million or about N421.5 million from its Innovation Grant to support Diamond Bank’s Diamond Y’ello Account (DYA), a mobile banking platform which was built on MTN Xaas platform.

    The DYA was built on a platform powered by CWG Plc. It was designed to enable MTN subscribers; which include the largely unbanked and under-banked populace in Nigeria, enjoy banking services from Diamond Bank using their mobile phones within the convenience of their varying locations. It provides easy access to a broad range of financial products tailored to meet consumers’ needs, at an affordable cost. These include bills payment, savings, retail collections, micro-credit and insurance transactions.