The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said financial service providers at the state level of the country must achieve a minimum of at least 80 per cent inclusion of adult population by the year 2020. Abuja branch Controller of the CBN, Elizabeth Agu made the announcement yesterday at the Financial inclusion State Steering Committee (FISSCO) programme yesterday in Abuja. The branch Controller specifically announced that each Deposit Money Bank (DMB) and Microfinance Banks operating in the federal capital territory must register a minimum of 1,500 and 2,500 new adult customers respectively, under the Nigerian National Financial Strategy (NFIS) in 2018. The DMBs are also required to record a minimum of 600 Total Credit customers in the same year. For every Microfinance Banks, the minimum figure is 1000. A Financial Inclusion State Steering Committee (FISSCO) was inaugurated yesterday. It would be chaired by Branch Controller of the CBN while the Head of Development Finance Office will serve as Technical Officers in the state/committee. Eyes Of Lagos gathered, According to a survey on access to financial service by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access, Nigeria was still at 41.6 per cent exclusion rate as at 2016, three years to the 2020 target. “This underscores the need to work extra hard on the exclusion rate from now till year 2020,” Agu said, adding that the central bank believes that the 2020 target is attainable. Addressing representatives of the various DMBs and MFBs at the event, She said the apex bank is working on initiative that are targeted at North East, North West and North Central zones of the country where the exclusion rates are still very high. Besides that, Agu said the bank is also “conceptualizing ways and means to reach out to women whose culture and religion require specialized products and channels. The branch controller said financial service providers at the state level are pertinent to achieving the target of at least 80 per cent inclusion of adult population by the year 2020. The branch controller said the authorities have concluded arrangement for the implementation of the NFIS at the state level. On his part, Permanent Secretary in FCTA who director, EPRS, Mr. Abubakar Pai said financial service for the poor should be pursued by all stakeholders. He said a common platform should be created to enable the identified stakeholders to contribute towards addressing issues that surrounds the implementation of NFIS with a focus to “achieve enhanced access of all state residents.
