Nigeria’s financial inclusion landscape includes both great hope and great challenges. As Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria has the potential to drive consumers toward financial inclusion, yet internal strife and economic instability have made progress uncertain. Nearly one in two Nigerians (46%) live below the poverty line, with research showing that being poor, rural and less educated are all barriers to inclusion. Today, banking leads the way to financial inclusion, with more than one-third of adults (34%) having bank accounts. Two in 100 adults (2%) have mobile money accounts and the same number (2%) have nonbank financial accounts. After committing to the Maya Declaration, the Nigerian government launched the National Financial Inclusion Strategy in 2012 to reduce the financially excluded to 20% by 2020. Although the goal is ambitious, the strategy reflects its long-term commitment to expanding financial services access and use to underserved populations.
Financial Inclusion
Registered Bank Accounts
Active Bank Account Use
True or false
Banks are the most widely used form of financial services, formal or informal.
Which demographic group is most likely to own a bank account?
True or false
Financial inclusion in Nigeria is primarily through mobile money.
Mobile money was introduced in Nigeria before it was introduced in Kenya.
True or false
Digital financial inclusion decreased from 40% in 2014 to 29% in 2017.
True or false
Adults living in rural areas are most likely to have their own bank account.