41.1m Nigerian adults keep money at home - Survey

Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) has said that about 41.1 million, 41.6 per cent Nigerian bankable adults out of 96.4 million kept their money at home throughout 2016.

EFInA, in its latest survey which was conducted in collaboration with the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) put the total adult population of Nigeria (18 years and above) at 96.4 million.

The survey stated that financial exclusion rate slowed over a two-year period from 39.5 per cent in 2014 to 41.6 per cent in 2016

The survey also revealed the emergence of “lapsed users”: that is previous users of financial services that chose to self-exclude either due to tough economic situation, lack of trust in the financial system or distance to financial access points.

The report attributed decreased interest to the challenging economic environment between 2015 and 2016, with direct negative effect on low employment rate, lower disposable income and increasing inflation rate, with greater impact felt by the bottomof-the-pyramid.

The key concern from the survey is the financial exclusion trend across varying regions in the country.

The North West witnessed the highest increase in financial exclusion rate from 56 per cent in 2014 to 70 per cent in 2016. North Central increased from 33 per cent in 2014 to 39 per cent in 2016.

The exclusion rates in the South East also increased from 25 per cent to 28 per cent, while by contrast, there is improved performance for the South West, which witnessed financial exclusion rate decrease from 25 per cent in 2014 to 18 per cent in 2016, resulting in the region surpassing the target for 20 per cent exclusion rate by 2020.

The report also shows significant progress in the North East, with financial exclusion rate decreasing from 68 per cent in 2014 to 62 per cent in 2016, while the South South also improved from 33 per cent to 31 per cent.

The survey also reveals there is increase in the access to payment channels from 24 per cent in 2014 to 38 per cent in 2016, savings products increased from 32 per cent in 2014 to 36 per cent in 2016.

However, the report stated that access to credit remained at three per cent between 2014 and 2016, as well as pension at five per cent between 2014 and 2016.

To reverse the situation, the survey recommended to the Nigerian banks a broad range of relevant products and services (micro-insurance, micropensions, that can be provided through digital and non-digital channels could be deployed, focus on the MSMEs, agricultural producers, households and individuals, especially those in the informal sector, as well as refocusing on women and youths (under-served groups), to reverse loss of productivity to the economy.