By Peter Egwuatu

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s initiative of making 80 percent of Nigerians financially included is yet to be achieved, according to Lagos Business School, LBS. The LBS, weekend, disclosed that only 60 percent of Nigerians were financially included, as the 80 percent target was yet to be realised.

Speaking to newsmen in Lagos about the new research initiative at LBS supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Enase Okonedo, Dean, LBS, said: “In 2011, Nigeria set an ambitious target of having 80 percent of all Nigerians financially served by 2020. We currently stand at around 60 percent, which means four out of every 10 adult Nigerians do not have access to any form of financial services.”

In his comment, Mr. Kosta Peric, Deputy Director, Financial Services for the Poor Programme, of the Foundation, said: “The research project is meant to address the regulatory gaps and market struc-tures disabling financial inclusion for poor unbanked Nigerians.”