By Dickson Pat
Group CEO of Network International, Nandan Mer, has said that the ongoing drive to achieve 95% financial inclusion can be accelerated through government-sponsored payment initiatives.
Mer stated this in Lagos on Wednesday during a press conference organized to launch the Company’s Network One Payment Platform in Lagos.
In addition to its direct involvement, he said the government would also need to put in place financial inclusion targets for all ecosystem participants.
He, however, said that the government could not do it alone, adding that ecosystem players must also embrace the government’s mandates, policies, and regulations.
Mer noted that when the government gets involved through different initiatives, there is always a tremendous force for good.
“I believe the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System ,NIBSS, is doing a good job in terms of interbank payments and the proposed domestic card scheme is a step in the right direction. Network International is committed to embracing these initiatives and recognizing the transformative power of government involvement.
“While government responsibility is not sole, its engagement accelerates progress. Alignment among government, policymakers, and central banks is vital”, Mer said.
Mer said Network International is deploying its flagship Network One platform on soil in alignment with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s ,CBN, directive for in-country transaction routing to enhance local processing capabilities.
According to him, the platform is now ready to onboard and empower banks, Mobile Network Operators ,MNOs, and fintechs in Nigeria and throughout the West African region.
Speaking on the potential of the digital payment space in Nigeria, the Network International boss said:
“As the country with the fourth-largest Gross Domestic Product,GDP, in Africa with strong consumer spending, Nigeria is ripe for a digital payments boom.
“Total transaction value in the domestic digital payments market is projected to reach 21.32 billion US dollars in 2024, with an annual growth rate ,CAGR 2024-2028, of 10.06% projected to reach a total amount of 31.28 billion dollars by 2028″.
According to the 2023 Access to Finance survey conducted by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access ,EFInA, financial inclusion in Nigeria increased to 74% in 2023, up from 68% in 2020.
EFInA, however, said that despite the improvement in access to finance, more work needed to be done to achieve the 95% long-term inclusion set by CBN in the Nigeria Financial Inclusion Strategy ,NFIS, 3.0.
Against this backdrop, the Governor of CBN, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso also recently charged Financial Inclusion stakeholders to adopt a paradigm shift from just collaboration to a concrete commitment towards the attainment of the 95% financial inclusion goal.
