The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has said it will eliminate the current gender gap in financial inclusion in Nigeria by 2024, using its recently released framework for advancing women’s financial inclusion in Nigeria.
According to the CBN, the framework builds on the revised targets of the 2018 National Financial Inclusion Strategy, which targets a reduction of the financially excluded adult population in Nigeria to 20 percent by the end of 2020. Achieving that goal has however now been disrupted by the emergence of the Corona Virus Pandemic, the CBN says.
Going by the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFiNA) 2018 survey report, the gender gap in financial access within Nigeria is present across regions, income groups and age groups. And, indicating that there are systemic hurdles to women’s financial inclusion in Nigeria, with women still more likely than men to rely solely on informal financial services.
“While women in the North West and North East are most likely to be excluded, the highest relative gender gap is in the South West (23 percent for women and 14 percent for men),” the report stated.
Going forward, the CBN bets on the framework's eight strategies - to be implemented in short, medium and long term actions - to enable Nigeria achieve equal gender financial inclusion by 2024.
Nigeria In Focus:
Population - 206.6 million (Compared to South Africa's 59.6 million)
GDP: $504.57 billion (Compared to South Africa's $369.85 billion)
GDP Per Capita: $2,465 (Compared to South Africa's $6,193)
