Formal credit access doubles to 10% – Report

Formal credit access in Nigeria has nearly doubled to 10%, according to a 2026 Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Survey conducted by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) in partnership with the National Bureau of Statistics. The survey, which covered all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, shows that formal financial inclusion has risen to 73%, representing an estimated 87.2 million adults across the country.

Significant gains have been made among women, with formal financial inclusion among women business owners increasing from 67.5% to 76.3% and among women farmers from 42.7% to 53.6%. Fintech company Moniepoint believes the findings support cash flow-based lending, which assesses borrowers based on their business's money performance and movement rather than conventional collateral.

This shift in Nigeria's financial inclusion landscape, however, still falls short of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy target of 40% formal credit penetration. Trust is identified as a crucial factor in Nigerians' use of financial services, with 96.9% of those who trust their providers having carried out a financial transaction in the past 90 days compared to 65.6% among those who do not trust their providers.

Moniepoint CEO Tosin Eniolorunda emphasized that expanding access would be ineffective without consumer trust in financial institutions, noting that 83% of Moniepoint users reported improved quality of life and 85% expressed greater confidence in achieving their financial goals. Edidiong Uwemakpan, Moniepoint's Vice President of Corporate Affairs, emphasized the importance of designing financial products around the needs of underserved Nigerians and continued collaboration with EFInA and financial sector regulators to expand access to credit and other formal financial services.