EFInA Report Highlights Opportunities for Financial Inclusion in Kaduna State

Emma Okonji

The EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2020 Report on Deep Dive Survey, which focused on Kaduna State has revealed that there is a significant market opportunity to drive financial inclusion in the state, including all excluded groups such as women, rural adults, micro-entrepreneurs and farmers.

According to the report, high ownership of mobile phones and interest in digital financial services, present favourable conditions for reversing the financial exclusion of over half of adults in Kaduna State.

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 and Development Office.
EFInA is a financial sector development organisation that has been at the forefront of promoting financial inclusion in Nigeria since its establishment in 2007.

The Kaduna State Deep Dive Survey showed that 38 per cent of adults in the state are using regulated financial services, such as Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Microfinance banks, Mobile money, Insurance, and Pension accounts.

“While majority of the adults are using bank services, 33 per cent of adults in Kaduna State are banked. Although the state has the highest rate of financial inclusion in the North-west, 62 per cent of adults in Kaduna State still do not use any regulated financial services. Financially excluded adults in the state are more likely to reside in rural areas, have lower levels of education, be micro entrepreneurs 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 per cent of women in Kaduna State using regulated financial services, compared with 46 per cent of men. Restrictive gender norms contribute to this gap in access; for example, only 21 per cent of women in in the state have the final say on whether they can work to earn income, compared with 87 per cent of men,” the report said.

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, who expressed his views about the report, said the state viewed 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,” El-Rufai said.

According to him, “The state government appreciates the strong impact that access to telecommunications services has on financial inclusion. The state `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 3.5 million residents in the database of the Kaduna State Residents Registration Agency (KADRRA). The goal is for KADRRA to reach nine million residents, which is about 90 per cent of enrollment of residents, by December 2022.”

Analysing the report, Nigeria Country Director, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Jeremie Zoungrana, said the presentation of findings from the survey on access and use of financial services in Kaduna State would 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, will deliver compounding benefits,” Zoungrana said, while calling for continued partnership with Kaduna State.

CEO of EFInA, Ashley Immanuel, said: “The 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 across the state.”