By Babajide Komolafe
NIGERIA is presently faced with the challenge of weak economic growth, which stood at 1.93 percent for 2018, and a huge population estimated at 201 million people. The impact of this challenge is reflected in the high unemployment figures, estimated at 23.1 percent, and the 86.9 million Nigerians living in extreme poverty.
At the core of this challenge is the large number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), without access to credit as well as large population of Nigerians who are financially excluded, which means they do not have access to financial services.
Given that 80 percent of businesses in Nigeria are MSMEs which also generate about 80 percent of employment in Nigeria, and the well proven impact of financial inclusion on poverty reduction, addressing the challenge of weak economic growth and poverty requires a policy framework and direction that will help MSMEs to easily access credit and also extend financial services to the mass of…
