Moniepoint advocates collaboration to drive financial inclusion

Digital financial institution, MoniePoint Inc, has highlighted the importance of a public-private collaboration to drive financial inclusion in Nigeria.

A statement from Moniepoint on Thursday said that this was disclosed at a policy dialogue between the Nigerian government and private sector stakeholders held in Washington DC recently.

During the engagement, Moniepoint Inc’s Group Chief Executive Officer/co-founder, Tosin Eniolorunda, emphasised the importance of public-private collaborations in addressing trust issues that have slowed down the adoption of innovative fintech solutions for economic and financial inclusion.

“Moniepoint has long championed the importance of financial inclusion and financial happiness. Building trust with the public and government, and improving business and consumer access to the financial system are critical issues that are aligned with our philosophy. As a testament to our commitment, we recently launched a landmark report investigating Nigeria’s informal economy, highlighting opportunities to widen financial inclusion to historically underserved communities.

“The outputs from this strategic gathering will go a long way in bolstering Nigeria’s economy even as closer linkages are formed from public-private collaboration which will be a huge boost to the overall development and competitiveness of the larger financial services industry,“ Eniolorunda said.

The event, which brought together government officials, regulators, law enforcement agencies, and fintech industry leaders at George Washington University, aimed to leverage innovative approaches to drive a sustainable and inclusive financial system in Nigeria.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, addressing the gathering via video conference, highlighted the urgent need for financial innovation to drive Nigeria’s economic and financial inclusion agenda.

“This aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s administration commitment to bringing over 30 million unbanked Nigerians into the formal financial sector as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“We must develop a sustainable collaboration approach that will facilitate the adoption of inclusive payment to achieve our objective of economic and financial inclusion,” Shettima stated.

The firm noted that the dialogue focused on addressing critical challenges in Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem, including regulatory oversight, security concerns, and trust issues that have hindered the widespread adoption of innovative financial solutions.

The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on Financial System Stability, Philip Ikeazor, highlighted the need for ongoing collaboration among all stakeholders to meet the goals of the Aso Accord on Economic and Financial Inclusion.

The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Inuwa Abdullahi, advocated for “a digital-first approach and the fusion of digital literacy with financial literacy to address trust issues affecting the inclusive payment ecosystem”.