Economy
27% of Nigerian Adults Financially Healthy, 34% Vulnerable—Report
By Adedapo Adesanya
The latest report from Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) has revealed that only 27 per cent of adults in Nigeria are financially healthy.
Business Post reports that financial health is reached when someone has funds in place to meet his short, mid and long-term needs and this could be in terms of income, savings and retirement planning.
In a survey titled The EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2020, it was also revealed that 39 per cent of Nigerian adults are financially coping, while 34 per cent are financially vulnerable.
“Nigerians require a range of useful, affordable, and accessible financial services to meet all of their needs.
“Many Nigerian adults continue to rely on different types of providers to meet those needs; while the use of banks increased in 2020, so did the use of unregulated services such as savings groups and village associations,” the CEO of EFInA, Ms Ashley Immanuel, said at the presentation of the report.
It was also noted in the report that Nigeria, which prides itself as Africa’s largest economy, is lagging behind in its target for financial inclusion strategy for 2020, though it said more Nigerian adults are financially included, the National Financial Inclusion Strategy targets were not met.
The method points to strategies used to sets targets for overall financial inclusion, which counts Nigerians that use either formal financial services or informal financial services not nationally regulated, such as savings groups.
The report noted that, “Growth in digital financial services and agent banking highlights opportunities to drive faster progress toward financial inclusion, particularly for excluded groups such as women, rural and Northern Nigerians.
“For the first time, more than half of Nigerian adults are using formal (regulated) financial services.”
The report explained that 51 per cent of Nigerian adults use commercial banks, microfinance banks, mobile money, insurance, or pension accounts, up from 49 per cent in 2018.
“This has largely been driven by growth in banking, with 45 per cent of Nigerians banked in 2020, up from 40 per cent in 2018.
“The overall financial inclusion target was 80 per cent by 2020; EFInA data shows that only 64 per cent of Nigerian adults were financially included by the end of 2020.
“This means that 36 per cent of Nigerian adults, or 38 million adults, remain completely financially excluded.
“In addition, large gaps in financial access remain for some of Nigeria’s most financially excluded groups,” it said.
By gender inclusion, the report showed that women continue to be more financially excluded than men, with only 45 per cent of women using formal financial services, compared with 56 per cent of men.
“Adults in Northern Nigeria continue to be significantly more financially excluded than those in the southern zones, and rural adults are still more excluded than those in urban areas.
Young adults, between the ages of 18-25, are significantly more likely than older adults to be financially excluded.”
While further commenting on the report, Ms Immanuel disclosed that “At our current rate of progress, we will not reach the 2020 financial inclusion targets until around 2030.
“However, we can reach these targets much faster if we follow paths taken by other African countries that have seen rapid financial inclusion growth due to mobile money.
“EFInA’s Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Surveys show that the use of digital financial services and agent networks started to grow significantly between 2018 and 2020. Phone ownership has also increased, with 81 per cent of Nigerians now owning mobile phones.
“Now is the time to build on this initial progress and drive faster financial inclusion growth through digital financial services such as mobile money.
“We can do this by creating an open and the level playing field for a wide range of providers, creating the right environment for fintech to thrive, and encouraging partnerships between different providers.”
She explained further that financial inclusion can benefit individuals, families, and businesses, supporting key outcomes such as GDP growth.
The EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Survey highlights a significant market opportunity for financial service providers to address Nigerians’ financial needs.
It was noted that only 2 per cent of Nigerian adults are insured, but 18 million uninsured adults say they would be interested in micro-insurance.
Only 7 per cent of Nigerian adults have pension accounts, but 24 million adults without pensions are making regular savings for their retirement. While only 45 per cent of Nigerians are banked, 35 million unbanked Nigerians own mobile phones and could be reached with mobile money.
Mrs Gail Warrander, Economic Development Team Leader, Nigeria for the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, remarked that “The EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2020 Survey shows that Nigeria has made progress on financial inclusion but there’s still a way to go.
“The report models how the journey to the financial inclusion goal can be speeded up by encouraging the scale-up of mobile money.
“I firmly believe that the majority of those excluded, especially women and youth, could then enjoy the convenience of financial services, including using remote payments systems.
“This survey is full of rich data for policymakers, development partners and financial services companies to use,” she said.
Also speaking, the Deputy Governor, Financial Systems Stability (FSS), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs Aishah Ahmad, noted that “financial inclusion is a strong lever for bridging income inequality, combating poverty and preserving social harmony.
“The CBN has accordingly been at the forefront of the efforts to drive financial inclusion in Nigeria by championing the development & implementation of Nigeria’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy led by the CBN Governor.”
The Deputy Governor and Chair of the Financial Inclusion Technical Committee stated that “Despite the progress achieved to date, critical groups remained excluded including women, rural dwellers and citizens in the northern area.
“To address the issue with women, CBN launched a Framework for Advancing Women’s Financial Inclusion in Nigeria in 2020 and is leading the industry to implement the framework, which we expect to lead to a significant increase in women financial inclusion in Nigeria.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government, the 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government areas have received N1.727 trillion from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for December 2024.
The funds were disbursed to the three tiers of government from the revenue generated by the nation in November 2024.
At the December meeting of FAAC held in Abuja, it was stated that the amount distributed comprised distributable statutory revenue of N455.354 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N585.700 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.046 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N671.392 billion.
According to a statement signed on Friday by the Director of Press and Public Relations for FAAC, Mr Bawa Mokwa, the money generated last month was about N3.143 trillion, with N103.307 billion used for cost of collection and N1.312 trillion for transfers, interventions and refunds.
It was disclosed that gross statutory revenue of N1.827 trillion was received compared with the N1.336 trillion recorded a month earlier.
The statement said gross revenue of N628.972 billion was available from VAT versus N668.291 billion in the preceding month.
The organisation stated that last month, oil and gas royalty and CET levies recorded significant increases, while excise duty, VAT, import duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and EMTL decreased considerably.
As for the sharing, FAAC disclosed that from the N1.727 trillion, the central government got N581.856 billion, the states received N549.792 billion, the councils took N402.553 billion, while the benefiting states got N193.291 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
From the N585.700 billion VAT earnings, the national government got N87.855 billion, the states received N292.850 billion and the local councils were given N204.995 billion.
Also, from the N455.354 billion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government was given N175.690 billion, the states got N89.113 billion, the local governments had N68.702 billion, and the benefiting states received N121.849 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
In addition, from the N15.046 billion EMTL revenue, FAAC shared N2.257 billion to the federal government, disbursed N7.523 billion to the states and transferred N5.266 billion to the local councils.
Further, from the N671.392 billion Exchange Difference earnings, it gave central government N316.054 billion, the states N160.306 billion, the local government areas N123.590 billion, and the oil-producing states N71.442 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.
On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.
At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.
In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.
The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.
The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.
The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.
Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.
In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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