A round table conversation with key stakeholders in Nigeria’s financial industry will focus on the government’s key policy of creating an inclusive financial system that will benefit people from all walks of life.
STANMEG Communications, publishers of Oriental News Nigeria, will hold the inaugural conference on ‘Financial Inclusion,’ which will bring together professionals from important business sector organizations and regulatory bodies.
Sunday Thomas, the Commissioner for Insurance, who had already confirmed the involvement of the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, also approved the conference’s topic, which he described as a major policy endeavor that NAICOM is passionate about.
With this approval, NAICOM will join other major stakeholders from the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, the National Communications Commission, and First Bank Plc as panelists at the conference.
The conference, according to the organizers, will aid in the advancement of inclusive financial systems for the identified groups, which include community-based people, artisans, low-income groups, market men and women, and special persons (Disability Group) who engage in various vocations, as well as displaced persons.
The conference’s theme is “Engaging With Critical Grassroots Groups To Develop Effective Financial Inclusion Initiatives,” with a sub-theme of “Identifying Key Action Areas for Financial Inclusion Strategy.” It will take place on June 16, 2022, at the Sheraton Hotels in Ikeja, Lagos.
Dr. Uju Ogubunka, Chairman of the Bank Customers Association of Nigeria (BCAN), is the conference chairman, while Mallam Garba Kurfi, Managing Director of APT Securities and Funds Limited, is the guest speaker.
The conference is being held because, over the last few years, the Federal Government and financial sector stakeholders have had to deal with expanding financial services to a large community of underserved populations and dealing with resilience challenges brought on by a confluence of events, according to a press release issued by the organizers.
They’ve had to deal with rising financial services pricing, limited coverage and capacity, and limitations in critical areas such as low internet awareness among specific segments of the population, such as market men and women, artisans, and physically handicapped people.
Using rigorous research methodologies, STANMEG Communications discovered a significant gap in the financial services system, with some members of other social strata being excluded.
Since 2005, the Nigerian financial services sector has seen an increase in government and regulatory initiatives aimed at intentionally pushing policies that aim to increase financial inclusion.
Due to its perceived relevance as a driver of economic progress, the notion of financial inclusion has gained more prominence in recent years.
Giving access to financial services to the hundreds of millions of men and women who are currently unable to do so would allow for the creation of a large depository of savings, investable funds, investment, and thus global wealth generation.
