World Bank and Firstmonie Partner on Financial Education and Mobile Money in Nigeria

The government of Nigeria aims to be one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020 – and both financial literacy and financial inclusion are two crucial aspects of this “20 by 2020” vision. In its latest move to provide its citizens with access to financial education tools and resources, as well as greater access to financial services, First Bank of Nigeria partnered with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to roll out innovative mobile money services throughout the nation.

The partnership will leverage significant funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to bolster the availability of important financial products primarily to low income individuals and families. While mobile money operator licenses were issued in 2010, a number of barriers such as high costs, poor network management, and low visibility of the offerings hindered a more successful rollout. To address these issues, IFC will provide Firstmonie with a broad range of technical assistance, including in the areas of financial modelling, agent management and customer activation.

Nigeria understands that the success of financial inclusion and mobile money hinges on financial literacy. For this reason, the Central Bank of Nigeria has been promulgating the virtues of financial education, as have other individuals and entities throughout the nation. For example, First Bank of Nigeria launched a 13-week program to focus on budgeting, savings, and planning for students’ financial futures.

The financial literacy industry is watching this partnership closely, as many believe it could serve as a model alliance among key stakeholders to further drive financial literacy and financial inclusion to new heights.