EFInA discusses
practical strategies to enhance women’s financial inclusion in Nigeria
Enhancing
Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) hosted their inaugural Women’s
Financial Inclusion Forum to share ideas and discuss practical strategies to
enhance financial inclusion for women in Nigeria.
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L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Enhancing Financial Innovation
and Access (EFInA), Ms Modupe Ladipo, Board Member, Enhancing Financial
Innovation and Access (EFInA), Mrs Animo Emuwa and Manager, Savings, Women’s
World Banking, Ms. Jennifer McDonald during the Women’s Financial Inclusion
Forum at Four Point by Sheraton, Victoria Island Lagos.
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The EFInA
Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2012 survey revealed that 21.6 million
men (47.4% of adult men), compared with 16.2 million women (38.3% of adult
women), had access to formal financial services. In addition, the South West
had the highest percentage of formally included women at 53.5% and the North
West had the highest percentage of financially excluded women at 71.3%.
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L-R: Nigeria Country Director, Women for Women
International, Ms Ngozi Eze, Executive Director, Women in Management &
Business (WIMBIZ), Ms Mosun Layode, Chief Executive Officer, Enhancing
Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), Ms Modupe Ladipo and Chairman of the
Board, Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) Mr Yemi Cardozo during
the Women’s Financial Inclusion Forum at Four Point by Sheraton, Victoria
Island Lagos.
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The Women’s
Financial Inclusion Forum brought together local and international stakeholders
from the public, private and non-profit sectors to highlight approaches for
bridging the gender inclusion gap by improving access to and usage of formal
financial products for Nigerian women.
EFInA Board
member Mrs. Anino Emuwa opened the forum by explaining that EFInA has
specifically identified women as a focus area in its 5-Year Strategy, as women
remain a relatively underserved group. She encouraged participants at the forum
to develop innovative solutions that would enhance women’s financial inclusion
in Nigeria.
Chief
Executive Officer of EFInA, Ms. Modupe Ladipo, shared in-depth analysis on the
landscape of women’s financial inclusion in Nigeria. Ms. Ladipo provided
insights about the key differences between the demographic profile of men and
women, as well as between formally served, informally served and financially
excluded women.
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L-R: Executive Director, Women in Management & Business (WIMBIZ),
Ms Mosun Layode, Chief Executive Officer, Enhancing Financial Innovation and
Access (EFInA), Ms Modupe Ladipo, Chairman of the Board, Enhancing Financial
Innovation and Access (EFInA) Mr Yemi Cardozo and Manager, Savings, Women’s
World Banking, Ms. Jennifer McDonald during the Women’s Financial Inclusion
Forum at Four Point by Sheraton, Victoria Island Lagos.
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International
guest speaker, Ms. Jennifer McDonald, Savings Manager, Women’s World Banking
(WWB), presented global best practices for women’s financial inclusion, sharing
her organisation’s experience in developing products that enhance women's
financial inclusion. Ms. McDonald discussed WWB’s work with Diamond Bank on the
BETA Savings product, which is targeted at unbanked and under-banked Nigerians,
especially women. In 2011, EFInA awarded Diamond Bank a Technical Assistance
Grant to develop and pilot the BETA Savings product.
The
panellists at the forum included Mr. Anant Nautiyal, Mobile Programme Director,
Cherie Blair Foundation for Women; Ms. Ngozi Eze, Nigeria Country Director,
Women for Women International and Mr. Jude Anele, Head, Retail Banking, Diamond
Bank. They provided practical examples for deepening women’s financial
inclusion.
During
breakout sessions, participants at the forum developed actionable strategies
for ensuring women’s uptake and usage of formal financial products through
effective product design, emphasis on financial capability and adoption of
mobile technology.
In closing,
the Chairman of EFInA’s Board, Mr. Yemi Cardoso, stated that “women are far
more excluded than men in Nigeria. We must ask ourselves what measures we can
take to address that imbalance. One potential solution could be the provision
of unsecured lending by financial institutions.”
www.efina.org.ng
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