Formal credit access doubles to 10% as financial inclusion hits 73%

Access to formal credit in Nigeria has nearly doubled to 10 per cent, according to the 2026 Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Survey by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA). The same survey puts formal financial inclusion at 73 per cent, an estimated 87.2 million adults.

EFInA conducted the 2026 A2F Survey in partnership with the National Bureau of Statistics. It covered all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, based on more than 18,600 interviews carried out between April and June 2026.

Women business owners and farmers lead the gains

Formal financial inclusion among women business owners climbed from 67.5 per cent to 76.3 per cent. Among women farmers, it rose from 42.7 per cent to 53.6 per cent. Both groups have traditionally faced the steepest barriers to finance, so the movement matters for how credit reaches the real economy.

Even with the improvement, Nigeria remains far from its own target. The National Financial Inclusion Strategy sets formal credit penetration at 40 per cent, which means the current 10 per cent is a quarter of the way there.

Trust separates users from non-users

The survey flagged trust as a major determinant of how Nigerians use financial services. Among adults who trusted their financial service providers, 96.9 per cent had carried out a transaction in the previous 90 days. Among those who did not trust their providers, the figure was 65.6 per cent.

That is a 31.3 percentage point gap, and it shows that a licence or an app download means little without confidence in the institution behind it.

Moniepoint makes its case for cash flow lending

Fintech company Moniepoint said the findings strengthen the argument for cash flow-based lending, which assesses borrowers on the movement of money through their businesses rather than relying mainly on conventional collateral. The company said the model could widen formal credit access among underserved entrepreneurs, especially women in trade and agriculture.

Moniepoint co-founder and Group Chief Executive Officer Tosin Eniolorunda said expanding access would have limited impact if consumers did not trust the institutions providing financial services. He said trust had remained central to Moniepoint's approach and claimed 83 per cent of its users reported an improvement in their quality of life, while 85 per cent said they had greater confidence in achieving their financial goals.

Eniolorunda said those figures showed the importance of pairing access with reliable services that let people manage their finances and build more stable economic lives.

Speaking at the launch of the survey on behalf of Moniepoint, the company's Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Edidiong Uwemakpan, described the A2F Survey as an important benchmark for measuring financial inclusion in Nigeria and across Africa. She said the results should push fintechs, commercial banks and policymakers to look beyond expanding access and design products around the needs of underserved Nigerians.

Uwemakpan said the data would guide Moniepoint's next phase of inclusive lending, with particular attention to entrepreneurs and women in trade and agriculture, and that the company would keep working with EFInA and financial sector regulators to turn the findings into solutions.

The A2F Survey has tracked financial inclusion in Nigeria since 2008. The 2026 edition provides data on how Nigerians save, borrow, make payments and manage financial risks.

For Nigerian businesses, the numbers point to a slow but real shift. Credit is still scarce at 10 per cent penetration, so most small firms will keep funding operations from personal savings and informal sources until lenders find ways to price risk without demanding collateral they do not have.