Access to formal credit in Nigeria has nearly doubled to 10 per cent, signalling gradual progress in the country’s efforts to expand financial services to underserved individuals, entrepreneurs and farmers.

The improvement was revealed in the 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 found that overall formal financial inclusion had risen to 73 per cent, representing an estimated 87.2 million Nigerian adults.

Conducted between April and June 2026, the study covered all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory and involved more than 18,600 interviews.

Women Entrepreneurs Record Stronger Financial Inclusion

One of the strongest improvements recorded in the survey was among women operating businesses and farms.

Formal financial inclusion among women business owners increased from 67.5 per cent to 76.3 per cent.

Among women farmers, the rate rose from 42.7 per cent to 53.6 per cent, indicating that more women in agriculture are gaining access to regulated financial products and services.

The improvement is significant given the longstanding financing barriers faced by women-led businesses, particularly smaller enterprises and operators in the agricultural sector.

Greater access to formal financial services could provide these businesses with more opportunities to save, receive payments, access working capital and invest in expansion.

Fintechs Push Cash Flow-Based Lending

Financial technology company Moniepoint said the findings strengthened the case for alternative lending models, particularly cash flow-based credit.

Unlike traditional lending models that depend heavily on physical collateral, cash flow-based lending evaluates borrowers using information about their business transactions and movement of funds.

Such models could make formal loans more accessible to small businesses and entrepreneurs who operate viable businesses but lack conventional assets to pledge as collateral.

Moniepoint said this approach could be particularly important for women working in trade and agriculture.

The growing availability of digital transaction data also gives fintech companies and other lenders additional tools to assess creditworthiness and potentially extend financing to businesses previously excluded from conventional bank lending.

Nigeria Still Far From 40% Credit Target

Despite the improvement, Nigeria remains significantly below its formal credit penetration target.

The National Financial Inclusion Strategy targets formal credit penetration of 40 per cent, compared with the 10 per cent recorded in the latest survey.

Closing that gap will require substantially more lending to individuals and small businesses, particularly those operating outside the traditional salaried economy.

The findings suggest that simply expanding access to bank accounts and digital payment services may not be enough.

Financial institutions will also need to translate increased participation in the formal financial system into affordable savings, insurance and credit products capable of meeting consumers’ everyday financial needs.

Trust Emerges as Critical Factor

The survey identified consumer trust as one of the strongest factors influencing how actively Nigerians use financial services.

About 96.9 per cent of adults who said they trusted their financial service providers had completed a financial transaction within the previous 90 days.

Among consumers who did not trust their providers, the figure dropped to 65.6 per cent.

The 31.3 percentage-point difference highlights the importance of reliability, transparency and customer experience in driving sustained adoption of financial products.

Moniepoint co-founder and Group Chief Executive Officer Tosin Eniolorunda said expanding access alone would have limited impact unless consumers trusted the institutions providing the services.

According to the company, 83 per cent of its users reported improvements in their quality of life, while 85 per cent said they had greater confidence in achieving their financial goals.

Financial Institutions Urged to Focus on Underserved Nigerians

Moniepoint Vice President of Corporate Affairs Edidiong Uwemakpan described the Access to Financial Services Survey as an important benchmark for understanding the development of financial inclusion in Nigeria.

She said the findings should encourage fintech companies, commercial banks and policymakers to move beyond simply expanding access and develop products around the needs of underserved consumers.

Entrepreneurs and women operating in trade and agriculture are expected to remain important areas of focus as financial institutions seek to expand inclusive lending.

Moniepoint said it would continue working with EFInA and financial-sector regulators to translate the survey findings into products capable of expanding access to credit and other formal financial services.

Financial Inclusion Enters Next Phase

EFInA’s Access to Financial Services Survey has tracked Nigeria’s financial inclusion landscape since 2008, measuring how consumers save, borrow, make payments and manage financial risks.

The latest findings suggest Nigeria is making progress in bringing more adults into the formal financial system.

However, the gap between 10 per cent formal credit penetration and the national target of 40 per cent shows that access to financing remains a significant challenge.

For banks, fintech companies and policymakers, the next stage of financial inclusion will increasingly depend on turning millions of newly connected consumers into active users of affordable credit and other financial products.

Expanding cash flow-based lending, strengthening consumer trust and designing products around underserved groups could therefore play an important role in determining how quickly Nigeria closes its formal credit gap.