Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor and current Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has taken responsibility for delaying the entry of telecommunications companies into Nigeria’s financial services sector during his tenure from 2009 to 2014.
Speaking at the launch of the Access to Financial Services in Nigeria (A2F) 2026 Survey Report in Abuja, Sanusi said he had been reluctant to allow non-banking firms to handle large pools of customer funds following the 2009 banking crisis.
“I’m responsible for delaying the entry of telcos into this space,” Sanusi admitted. “I do think if I had allowed that to happen, there would have been much more progress.”
He credited subsequent CBN leadership for opening the market to telcos and fintechs, noting that traditional banks lacked the physical reach to drive financial inclusion on their own.
“The banks simply don’t have the boots on the ground. They don’t have the footprint to do it,” he said.
### Converting Daily Transactions into Long-Term Savings
Sanusi urged regulators to tap into the massive transaction volumes currently moving through fintech platforms. Pointing out that some payment companies process hundreds of billions of dollars annually, he suggested leveraging these high-frequency flows to build long-term financial security for everyday Nigerians.
Instead of requiring large lump sums, Sanusi proposed micro-deductions from daily digital transactions to automatically fund savings, insurance, and pensions.
“People understand that you don’t have to come and pay N1,000 or N2,000. A small amount every day can build up over time into a pool of savings,” he explained.
He added that access to payment platforms alone is not enough if users remain vulnerable to shocks like market fires or crop failures. He called on the CBN, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), and the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to collaborate on combined savings, insurance, and pension products.
Sanusi also warned that inflation remains the biggest threat to these efforts. “There is no enemy to savings, no enemy to wealth that is bigger than inflation,” he said.
### Sanusi Warns Food Imports Will Hurt Local Agriculture
Turning to food policy, Sanusi criticized recent decisions to lower food prices through cheap imports, arguing that the approach risks crippling local agricultural production and setting the economy back by a decade.
He specifically raised concerns over opening Nigerian markets to imported US beef and foreign rice, warning that local livestock farmers and millers will be wiped out by cheaper alternatives.
“For the politicians, breaking down food prices is fantastic. Everybody’s happy. But for the economy, it has set us back 10 years,” Sanusi said.
He argued that rather than opening borders to cheap foreign food, the government should provide targeted cash transfers directly to vulnerable households. This, he noted, would allow low-income families to buy food while keeping demand focused on domestic farmers.
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### PenCom Demands Actionable Strategy for Informal Sector Coverage
At the same event, the Director-General of PenCom, Ms. Omolara Oloworaran, stated that account opening metrics mean little if citizens do not maintain active retirement savings.
While the A2F survey showed formal pension coverage rising slightly from 7.8 percent in 2023 to 9.1 percent in 2026, Oloworaran pointed out that nine out of ten Nigerian adults—including millions of traders, farmers, mechanics, and gig workers—remain completely unprotected.
“What we now need is a dedicated pension inclusion module that tells us what will persuade those without one to start saving and keep saving,” Oloworaran said.
To bridge the gap, PenCom is proposing a National Pension Inclusion Map to pinpoint coverage gaps by region, gender, age, and occupation. Oloworaran also urged pension operators to experiment with digital onboarding, accredited field agents, transaction-based micro-savings, and behavioral incentives to drive adoption across the informal economy.
