Cyriacus Nnaji
The majority of those
adults are using bank services; 33% of adults in Kaduna State are banked. While
Kaduna State has the highest rate of financial inclusion in the Northwest, 62%
of adults in Kaduna State still do not use any regulated financial
services.
Financially excluded adults
in Kaduna State are more likely to reside in rural areas, have lower
levels of education, be microentrepreneurs or farmers, and have limited access
to bank branches or other financial access points. Women continue to be
more financially excluded than men, with only 30% of women in Kaduna State
using formal (regulated) financial services, compared with 46% of men.
Restrictive gender norms contribute to this gap in access; for example, only
21% of women in Kaduna State have the final say on whether they can work
to earn income, compared with 87% of men.
For the first time, the
EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2020 Survey measured the
financial health of Nigerian adults. Only one-quarter of adults in Kaduna State
are considered financially healthy, meaning they can plan, save, manage their
day-to-day spending, and are resilient towards financial shocks.
Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai said that
Kaduna State views financial inclusion as a contributor to economic growth
and is taking policy steps to expand it. “The Kaduna State Government has
developed a roadmap and blueprint for the adoption of a state-wide
digital payment infrastructure, with the support of the Gates Foundation.
Kaduna State is also partnering with the United Bank for Africa (UBA) to
improve financial access points in all the 23 Local Government areas of
the State.”
Malam El-Rufai also
explained that “KDSG appreciates the strong impact that access to
telecommunications services has on financial inclusion, Therefore, KDSG is
working in partnership with IHS Towers to improve and provide mobile
network (voice and data) in 42 blind spots across the state. Aside from
digitising payments, Kaduna State is digitising identity, capturing the biometric
details of over the 3.5m residents in the database of the Kaduna State
Residents Registration Agency (KADRRA). The goal is for KADRRA to reach
9m residents, about 90% enrollment of residents, by December 2022.”
Dr. Jeremie Zoungrana, Nigeria Country Director,
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, looks forward to continued
partnership with Kaduna State and said that “the presentation of findings from
the survey on access and use of financial services in Kaduna State will
provide important baselines for measuring progress. It will also highlight
the scale of the challenge that lies ahead. This is a challenge worth
tackling which when surmounted delivers compounding benefits.”
The EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria
2020 - Kaduna State Deep Dive Survey highlights significant market
opportunity for financial service providers to address the financial needs of
adults in Kaduna. For example, only 1% of adults in Kaduna State are insured,
but 0.7 million uninsured adults say they would be interested in
microinsurance. While only 33% of adults in Kaduna State are banked, 2
million unbanked adults in the state own mobile phones and could be reached
with mobile money.
Ashley Immanuel, CEO of EFInA, said, “This Kaduna
State Deep Dive Survey is the first time that EFInA has conducted such
detailed financial inclusion research at the state level. The data shows that,
while there is work to do to improve financial inclusion and financial health
of adults in Kaduna State, there is also tremendous opportunity to do so
by expanding the reach of relevant, affordable digital financial services
and agent networks. We are pleased to provide this data as a resource for stakeholders
such as government, financial service providers, development partners and
others to develop targeted strategies to drive inclusion in Kaduna
State.”
To learn more about EFInA visit:
www.efina.org.ng
To read the Access to Financial Services in Nigeria
2020 Survey Report: visit www.a2f.ng To request the Access to Financial
Services in Nigeria 2020 Dataset: send a request to info@efina.org.ng
For more information on the Access to Financial
Services in Nigeria Survey Report: Call the research officer - Oluwatomi
Eromosele at 09087491836
Call the chief executive officer - Ashley Immanuel at 09087491854
The EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria
2020 Survey was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the
UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. EFInA is a financial
sector development organization that has been at the forefront of promoting
financial inclusion in Nigeria since its establishment in 2007. For more
information on the survey report visit www.a2f.ng or www.efina.org.ng
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