From Our Correspondent
Abuja, May 8, ’25 (TNZ) The Federal Government has started implementing its economic and financial inclusion strategy in phases to improve access to economic opportunities for Nigerians.
TheNewsZenith reports that Vice President Kashim Shettima inaugurated the Technical Committee of the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion (PreCEFI) task force in Abuja.
The Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Sen. Ibrahim Hadejia, said at the inaugural meeting that the PreCEFI task force has started implementing the financial inclusion programme.
Recall that the Federal Government established the inter-agency task force to address challenges delaying President Bola Tinubu’s approved conditional cash transfers to 15 million vulnerable households.
The task force includes the National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office, National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
It has a mandate to unlock bottlenecks and fast-track the distribution of critical financial support to Nigeria’s most vulnerable.
The inaugural meeting also endorsed steps to work with state governments, localising data from the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access in Nigeria (EFInA) Access to Financial Services survey.
Hadejia explained that the meeting brought together high-level stakeholders to align on the President’s vision and execution roadmap.
The stakeholders comprised government agencies, financial institutions, and academia.
“We are off to a good start. What led to the success of what we’ve done so far is alignment and inclusive stakeholder engagement.
“Financial inclusion is not just about having a bank account. It means access to quality services, credit, and the visibility that digital platforms offer,” TheNewsZenith quotes Hadejia as saying.
He cited recent discussions at the World Bank Spring Meetings, noting that “the whole conversation was about India.
“And what it has been able to achieve in lifting its population out of extreme poverty through financial inclusion”.
Earlier, Dr Nurudeen Zauro, the Committee’s Secretary, said the meeting also approved PreCEFI’s strategic roadmap and governance structure.
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Zauro said the government established an inter-agency committee to address delays in the disbursement of conditional cash transfers to 15 million households.
He is also the Technical Advisor to the President on Financial Inclusion.
“We will present the report to the National Economic Council and the Nigerian Governors Forum to ensure data is domesticated and acted upon at the subnational level,” he said.
Also, the Director-General of NIMC, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, remarked that digital identity plays a foundational role in achieving inclusion goals.
“The beauty of the NIN is that it bridges the financial divide. It provides access to health, education, and agricultural services.
“It also strengthens national data infrastructure,” TheNewsZenith quotes Coker-Odusote as saying.
The Director of Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion at the CBN, Dr Aisha Isa-Olatinwo, also spoke in the same light.
Isa-Olatinwo urged the committee to focus on implementable outcomes that serve those at the base of the pyramid.
According to him, Financial inclusion is one of the eight reform pillars of the President’s agenda.
The Dean of the Lagos Business School, Prof. Olayinka David-West, said the meeting was solution-oriented.
“We identified key challenges impacting the achievement of the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda and how we would use our collective wisdom to solve the problems.
“Economic and financial inclusion is every Nigerian’s problem,” the Dean said. (TNZ)
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