Uche Usim, Abuja
The Acting-Director General of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), Miss Mary Uduk on Thursday, expressed confidence that Nigeria would beat the 2020 target of achieving 80 per cent financial inclusion for the citizens.
Uduk gave the assurance in Abuja yesterday during a programme for the financially excluded populace in Kwali Area Council in Abuja.
The programme was organised by SEC in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Insurance Commission and the National Pension Commission.
Acting SEC boss who was represented at the event by the Head of Market Development of SEC, Mr Francis Uzoma Okafor disclosed that the National Financial Inclusion Strategy was launched on October 23, 2012, and that the overall target was to reduce the percentage of adult Nigerians excluded from access to financial services from 46.3 per cent in 2010 to 20 per cent in 2020.
Uduk said the regulatory agencies were concerned with the level of financial inclusion in the country and we’re meeting quarterly on how to reverse the trend.
She explained that some individuals and households still lacked adequate access to a full range of affordable and convenient formal financial services. The SEC boss lamented it has been challenging bringing many Nigerians, especially those in the rural areas into the financial circle due issues of language barrier and lack of accounts in commercial banks.
These she noted, has robbed many people the access to any investment platform and ultimately stunting the growth potential of the economy.
She said, “The purpose of this financial inclusion program is to get 80 per cent of Nigerians financially included by 2020.
“We are coming down to the grassroots because they are those that are excluded from the formal financial system and every effort is being made to bring them to the financial system.
“We have taking this programme to all the states and we have seen many people who don’t have even bank account and we are educating them on why they should have it.