Emefiele. Photo/TWITTER/CENBANKThe traditional financial system is broken and does not work for Nigerians. EFINA’s 2018 survey provides the clearest example of this, as over 36.6 million or 37.0 per cent of Nigerians are still financially excluded. This means that the country has a number of people, larger than the populations of 44 African countries, who do not have access to financial services such as payment, credit, insurance, savings, and many more.
Academic studies often cite increased economic growth, prosperity and lower poverty levels as a good outcome of financial inclusion. Without access to financial services, households and businesses would fare considerably worse. This is why financial inclusion has been a big goal for governments across the world and is featured as an enabler in achieving eight of the 17 targets of the SDGs.