The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) says it is developing a portal for the purpose of registering skilled vocational artisans in the country.
Freda Bruce-Bennet, of the Digital Economy Department of the NCC, told the plan to participants at a event, held in Lagos.
Bruce-bennet said members of the Association Of Skilled Vocational Artisans Of Nigeria (Asvan) would be trained on digital information. The event speaks on the NCC’s efforts at deepening financial inclusion in the country.
“As a Commission, we have a mandate to ensure availability of universal access to telecom services irrespective of circumstances and location of Nigerians and other users in Nigeria,” said Bruce-Bennet, who stood in for the NCC executive vice chairman Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta.
Bruce-Bennet said that the Commission, in this respect, is partnering the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Fintech Association of Nigeria (FintechNGR), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Rockefeller Partnership Agreement (RPA), and other government agencies, to promote Digital Financial Services (DFS) and Digital Financial Inclusion (DFI) in Nigeria.
Dr. Uju Ogubunka, the chairman, Bank Customers Association of Nigeria, lauded the NCC for the commission’s “regulatory efforts in creating an enabling environment for digitized financial inclusion”.
What is Financial Inclusion? (Key Points)
- This refers to efforts to make financial products and services accessible and affordable to all individuals and businesses, regardless of their personal net worth or company size.
- Financial inclusion strives to remove the barriers that exclude people from participating in the financial sector and using these services to improve their lives. It is also called inclusive finance.
- The World Bank says great strides made in financial inclusion has seen 1.2 billion adults worldwide having access to an account between 2011 and 2017.
- As of 2017, 69% of the world’s adults had an account.
- Digital financial services — including those involving the use of mobile phones — have now been launched in more than 80 countries, with some reaching significant scale.
