Financial Literacy is Key to Nigeria’s “20 by 2020” Vision

The government of Nigeria announced its move to become one of the top 20 economies in the world by the year 2020, a vision dubbed “20 by 2020.”  While roughly 40% of the nation’s adult population currently is excluded from access to financial services, Nigeria is aiming to enable access to such services to 80% of the population within seven years.

Financial literacy and inclusion are central components of Nigeria’s plan, as access to and use of financial products and services can help Nigeria’s populace emerge from poverty and build effective personal finance foundations that would give future generations greater economic stability.  The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is playing a crucial role in this development, along with other financial system regulatory bodies, to drive higher levels of financial literacy and inclusion.  The global financial literacy community witnessed last year, for example, the launch of CBN’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), which aims to drive the number of Nigerians included in the formal financial sector to 70%.

Two key aspects of Nigeria’s strategy for the future include providing greater access to mobile telephony, and greater access to financial education.  With broader use of mobile money and a better educated citizenry, Nigeria is more likely to join the ranks of other countries that have experienced success in driving financial inclusion to greater heights.  The global financial literacy community will continue to monitor these developments in Nigeria, with hopes that this model will continue to result in strong financial inclusion success in communities throughout the world.