Expert says 133m Nigerians may suffer poverty for being financially excluded

By Chioma Obinagwam

The Managing Director, Tangerine General Insurance, Mr Mayowa Adeduro, has said that over 133million Nigerians were at the risk of dying of poverty due to lack of access to financial inclusion.

Adeduro, who spoke at SUPERNEWS Nigeria Fintech23 Conference in Lagos added that there is a nexus among poverty, education and financial inclusion, noting that this is the reason the Federal Government needs many stakeholders to achieve the goal.

He said over 133million Nigerians were at the risk of dying of poverty because they didn’t have access to financial inclusion.

“The banking sector just have 50 per cent of the adults in the banking circle. It is even worse in the insurance sector which has less that one per cent penetration level.

“To resolve this, the adoption of fintech has been highlighted as a critical tool to financial inclusion drive. There is need for fundamental investment of infrastructural development in IT and Fintech as being done in Europe and other developed economies.

“There is also need to have massive education because the illiteracy rate that we have cannot sustain the type of financial infrastructure that we are clamouring for. So, companies need to do more in investing in educating the people,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, the Group CEO Parthian Mr Oluseye Olusoga welcomed innovations to be created by opportunities and challenges inherent in embracing Fintech as a tool for promoting financial inclusion in the country.

“Opportunities yes, but there are also challenges. We know the infrastructural challenges. We know that sometimes the Fintech fails and it comes with a lot concerns but am not worried about this because the interesting thing you see is that when technology comes up and you have more advancements and you see more customers’ needs it creates innovation and that innovation is what we need,” he said.