The Central Bank of Nigeria has launched three new incentives to drive financial inclusion in the country. The bank unveiled the initiatives at the International Financial Inclusion Conference held in Lagos on Tuesday.
The new initiatives include the Women Financial Inclusion Dashboard which allows policymakers and regulators to identify gender gaps in financial services. There is also the Women Entrepreneur Finance Code created to boost access to finance for women-owned small scale businesses in the country.
In addition, there is the Roadmap for the financial inclusion for the forcibly displaced persons. This is aimed at mobilising the collaborative effort of stakeholders in breaking the barriers for displaced persons in the country.
The CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso said that the new ban recapitalisation policy will improve financial inclusion while helping the banks contribute to the goal of creating a $1 trillion economy.
Nigeria has been a facing a huge challenge of providing banking services for people especially in the rural areas. The lack of access to these financial service is even more pronounced in the women demography with the CBN putting the estimate at about 28 million people without banking services.
With the new initiatives launched on Tuesday, the CBN is hoping to improve access to banking services, improve financial inclusion and boost small scale businesses in the country.
