Central Bank is planning to move the financial inclusion gender gap from 8.5 per cent (based on 2018 data) to no gender gap in 2024.
The bank disclosed this in the ‘Framework for Advancing Women’s Financial Inclusion In Nigeria’ released on Monday.
According to the framework, this is to be achieved in a two-step process. The first milestone on this path is the reduction of the gender gap by one half by the end of 2021.
This is the target set by members of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (including Nigeria) under the Denarau ActionPlan5.
The second milestone is to eliminate the gender gap by the end of 2024.
The 2018 EFInA access to finance survey in Nigeria showed that the national financial inclusion rate was 58.9 per cent of women compared with 67.4 per cent of men, or a gender gap of 8.5 per cent.
Given the persistence of the gender gap in financial inclusion, members of the AFI committed in 2017 to the Denarau Action Plan to increase women’s access to quality and affordable financial services globally.
The DAP is expected targets to accelerate the progress of women’s financial inclusion by halving the financial inclusion gender gap across AFI member jurisdictions by 2021.
