By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will Friday February 15 2013 kick off its Financial Inclusion strategy in Maiduguri Borno State, North Eastern Nigeria.
This is coming on the heels of the Committee’s meeting held in Abuja Nigeria on Wednesday February 13 2013.
Ahmed Kuru, the Managing Director (MD) of Enterprise Bank Limited (EBL) said if the idea is successful implemented in Borno State, it becomes easier to replicate in other locations.
“If we are able to succeed in doing something in a State that has so many issues, then it becomes easier for us to replicate those things in other locations†he said.
He said the reason for the initiative is to reach the un-banked in the rural areas of Nigeria.
The CBN had said Borno State is one of the States with the highest level of financial exclusion in Nigeria.
As earlier reported by www.investadvocateng.com, the World Bank had in early December 2012 advocated for policies that will help the Unbanked people of the world have access to formal financial services.
In a new research it conducted, the World Bank reported that cost, documentation requirements and other travel distance associated with accessing a Bank Account are the reasons 2.5 billion unbanked are not using formal financial services.
According to the World Bank, Policy makers can boost the number of people using formal financial services through policies that help reduce the cost, documentation requirements, and travel distance associated with accessing a bank account.
“Policies addressing financial barriers have proven to be especially effective among the world’s 2.5 billion “unbanked,†including 75 percent of the world’s poor and those living in rural areas, according to the paper, which analyses newly released microdata as part of a large, multi-year Global Financial Inclusion data project†the Research said.
