The Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN]’s financial inclusion vision 2020 strategy has received a boost as Inlaks, the leading system integrator in Sub-Saharan Africa, has reiterated its commitment to extend the frontier of the apex bank’s project in Nigeria.
MD and CEO of Inlaks, Femi Adeoti, made the commitment based on the belief that the project would make a far-reaching impact on the nation’s economy.
Adeoti made this promise during a keynote address he delivered at the Nigerian ICT Impact CEO Forum and African Digital Awards in Lagos, where he bagged the ICT Man of the Year award.
At the event where Inlaks was named ICT conglomerate of the year, he said the CBN’s approval to Inlaks to function as a Super-Agent in the nation’s financial services system was also part of the effort to bring financial services closer to the people.
Adeoti, who was represented by the Director of Value Added Services, Oladimeji Talabi Koyejo, said that the organization through the provision of its services to the people is committed to extend the frontiers of CBN’s financial inclusion in Nigeria.
“We are committed to the CBN’s financial inclusion agenda most importantly in the areas of poverty reduction, employment generation, wealth creation, improving welfare and general standard of living of Nigerians’, he said.
He explained that 61% of adults in the country who are currently excluded from the formal financial systems are under age 65 years.
To attract these set of Nigerians into the formal financial system, Adeoti listed agency banking, mobile banking, electronic wallet, internet banking, call centre banking and the automated teller machine [ATM], as some of the requisite channels that would make it possible to bring Nigerian adults closer to the fore front of financial development.
“Mobile payment technology has become increasingly significant, especially in the context of developing economies, where many low income households and micro enterprises do not have ready access to financial services”, he continued.
He added that with an impressive customer base including six Central Banks in West Africa, 18 of the 24 commercial banks in Nigeria and other major customers in the West African region, the company has become the dominant information technology company in Africa.
Adeoti explained that Inlaks would work closely with the CBN and other stakeholders to reach the under-served population and the financially excluded in order to ensure that informal workers in Nigeria have access to affordable financial services through its agent network, which is expected to address social challenges in key areas such as health, insurance, credit accessibility, savings and wage payment.