We want barriers to financial inclusion removed for marginalised Nigerian communities.

Another International Women’s Day has passed, and at Inclusion for all, we concluded Women’s Month with the second edition of our I4ALL Dialogues. This year’s theme, “Inspire Inclusion,” resonated deeply with us as we brought together stakeholders from the financial ecosystem to delve into The State of Women’s Financial Access in Today’s Economy. The dialogue […]

This Women’s Month, we’re shedding light on the gender gap in financial inclusion and the gendered effects of poverty that make women more likely to be financially excluded than their male counterparts. According to The 2023 Access to Finance survey, 29% of Nigerians lack NINs, with marginalised groups, including women in rural areas, bearing the […]

Limited enrolment centres and travel distances make it difficult for willing but marginalized Nigerians to link their NIN/BVN to their accounts before the March/April deadline. Our recent data snapshot, “NIN/BVN Bank Account Cut-Off Impact Snapshot,” highlights this issue and its impact on unserved and underserved communities. It points out that geo-mapping restrictions, such as the […]

The NIN is Nigeria’s form of foundational digital ID that all bonafide citizens must have. Providing universal coverage and barrier-free access to ID systems is one of the three pillars of the Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development and is vital to achieving Target 16.9 of the  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to “provide legal identity […]

Without a formal means of ID the people we care about are “unseen” by the government and other key stakeholders that can help them.; thus making their impoverished state at risk of stagnating or even worsening.

In May, Nigerian telcos approved the suspension of USSD service access from Nigerian banks due to the banks’ accumulated debt of N210 billion (USD 261.36 million) in USSD fees. This decision might seem like just another business move, but it could have significant consequences for financial inclusion. In a country where 38% of the population […]

Tabawa has her NIN and knows how it is well accepted. She highlighted that the older ones in her community do not care about having a NIN because they are not interested in opening bank accounts.  She highlighted that the long queues and poor network are the most challenging issues people have to deal with […]

Ruth, an internally displaced person, shares her challenges accessing financial services, an experience faced by numerous forcibly displaced persons in Nigeria today. Ruth resides at the new Kuchingoro IDP camp in Abuja. No banks or mobile agents are available at the camp, which limits her access to financial services through these facilities. As such, Ruth […]

Joy declares that she has a formal ID – the  Permanent Voter’s Card has her means of identification and also used it in opening her bank account. She shares how the cash scarcity adversely impacted the sales of her farm produce.

Shadia shares her awareness of the availability of a range of formal IDs including NIN, BVN, and Voters’ Card. She urges the government to bring the NIN enrollment closer to their community for convenient access and further states that they wouldn’t mind paying a small fee to ensure they get access to original NINs based […]

Rabi shares that women in their 30s and above do not have birth certificates but those in their 20s and below do have their birth certificates in her community. She also highlights that 70% of women in her community have registered for their NIN which they are yet to receive. According to her, the creation […]

Oreoluwa shares her awareness of the different means of identification, and the importance of owning one. She further cites a lack of education and a lack of understanding as why some other women in her community don’t understand the value of owning formal identification like NIN.

Christianah shares the importance and the benefits of Identification (NIN). Christianah shares her experience during the fuel and cash scarcity that made it difficult for her to move her farm produce around, she also, mentioned that the charges from POS operators is equally high. Christianah has a NIN (National Identification Number) and shares her awareness […]

Sadiya shares that her SIM registration was done by someone else, and as a result of her lost SIM, linking her NIN to her SIM is not a priority for now, but she will link it eventually. Sadiya’s story highlights how lack of awareness and poor levels of education put people in marginalised communities at […]

Rabiatu from Katsina State in Nigeria shares her experience after the SIM-NIN call restriction on April 4. According to her, the NIN-SIM linkage was done by her friend whom she realised did not successfully link her NIN to her SIM.  Rabiatu’s story highlights how barriers including awareness and  education put people in rural communities at […]

Samaila shares his experience before and after the SIM-NIN call restriction on April 4. According to him, access to enrolment centres and the availability of the enrolment partners are limitations which led to the disconnection of his mobile SIM.  Prior to the call restriction, Samaila did not have a National Identity Number (NIN), and as […]