To meet the 95 per cent financial inclusion target set by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2024, the country needs to accelerate the current growth rate in the industry, says the General Manager, Mobile Financial Services, MTN Nigeria, Usoro Usoro.
He disclosed this at an interactive virtual session on Thursday by The Economist Intelligence Unit based on a report entitled ‘State of Play: Fintech in Nigeria’ sponsored by MTN Nigeria and Mastercard.
The webinar hosted by the Managing Director, CT Productions, Camelia Oros, featured presentations by Global Editorial Director, Thought Leadership, Irene Mia; and Senior Editor, Thought Leadership, EMEA, Melanie Noronha, both of The Economist Intelligence Unit.
It also featured presentations by Usoro and the Senior Vice President/General Manager, West Africa, Mastercard, Ebehijie Momoh.
The session reviewed topics in the Nigerian Fintech report while assessing both industry drivers and impediments to further growth.
Addressing participants at the session, Usoro remarked, “Fintech and financial inclusion are important areas for MTN Nigeria. We always see ourselves as a company that drives economic growth and development everywhere we operate.
“Working with The Economist team and similar stakeholders to produce reports such as this stimulates debate and conversation around the challenges in the sector and how we can work together as an industry to drive our desired objectives.”
According to him, CBN’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy, which was revised in 2019, has set a financial inclusion target to 95 per cent by 2024. “It is barely five years from now and we need a collaborative approach by stakeholders in the industry to ensure that all players can leverage their various assets to meet that target.
“Relatively, Nigeria has more sophisticated products than many other countries on the continent. The challenge is in accessibility and how these products will not only improve convenience for the already banked, but further drive inclusion while addressing how we can bring these last batch of 40 million customers that are traditionally excluded into the fold,” he said.
Plans to launch the report to a wide selection of stakeholders in the Nigerian fintech industry were underway, but had to be postponed due to the restrictions posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Economist Intelligence Unit confirmed that details of the physical event would be shared at a later date.
