Enhancing Financial Inclusion and Advancement (EFInA) on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, released the findings of the ninth Access to Financial Services in Nigeria (A2F) Survey, showing that 79% of Nigerian adults, approximately 94.2 million people, now use a financial product or service. Formal inclusion reached 73%, or roughly 87.2 million adults, exceeding the 70% target set under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy.

The findings were presented under the theme of Access. Opportunity. Growth: Advancing Financial and Economic Inclusion for All Nigerians, before an audience of senior government officials, regulators, financial service providers, development partners and civil society organisations. The programme opened with pre-event breakout sessions on women’s economic and financial inclusion, agricultural livelihoods, and financial resilience, convened with the World Bank Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program (GEF SGP), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA),respectively,each examining what the evidence reveals and further asks of the institutions working in those specific areas, and closing with commitments on next steps.

Opening the main plenary, Dr Agnes Olatokunbo Martins, Board Chair, EFInA, said the theme captures both the progress made and the ambition that should guide the next phase of Nigeria’s financial inclusion journey. She described the value of the Survey as its ability to show what administrative data cannot; explaining that while administrative data can tell us about accounts, transactions, infrastructure and providers, A2F tells us about the person behind those numbers. She cautioned against designing for a national average, noting that financial needs and experiences differ by income, gender, geography, age and economic activity.

In a keynote address delivered on behalf of Mr Olayemi Cardoso, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr Aisha A. Isa-Olatinwo, Director, Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion, CBN, said the evidence the Survey produces is indispensable to policy design, market development, consumer protection and the effective targeting of reforms. The address set out a shift in what the sector should now be working towards. “The policy challenge before us is therefore no longer simply to open accounts or expand access points,” the Governor said. “It is to ensure meaningful usage, affordability, reliability, safety, trust and measurable improvement in financial health.”

Delivering a goodwill message, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, DG, National Pension Commission, welcomed the rise in pension participation from 8% of adults in 2023 to 9.1% while pointing to the scale of what remains. “Roughly nine out of every ten Nigerians are not covered for the day they can no longer work,” she said. She invited EFInA to work with the Commission on a dedicated pension inclusion model, arguing that opening an account is not by itself pension inclusion, since an account that is open but never funded will not provide dignity in retirement.

Ahead of the release of the data, HH Sanusi Muhammadu Sanusi II CON, Emir of Kano and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, reflected on the 18 years since Nigeria’s inclusion agenda began, in a fireside chat anchored by Prof. Olayinka David-West, Deanand Professor of Information Systems, Lagos Business School. Opening the conversation, Prof. David-West observed that bank access stood at only 21% in 2008, and that exclusion now stands at21%, describing the shift as an inversion of the pyramid.His Highness welcomed the continuity of financial inclusion as a policy priority across successive administrations and pointed to the Bank Verification Number (BVN) as evidence of what durable infrastructure makes possible. On protecting households, he identified price stability as the foundation. “There is no enemy to savings, no enemy to wealth, that is bigger than inflation,” he said, urging the Central Bank to hold its focus on price stability and to resist pressure to ease before inflation reaches a tolerable level.

The fireside chat was followed by the unveiling of the A2F 2026 Survey Report and the presentation of the key findings by Foyinsolami Akinjayeju, CEO, EFInA.The findings show digital financial services reaching 64.4% of adults, up from 45% in 2023 and 34% in 2020. That rise is the largest movement recorded in this round, and digital use tracks closely with better outcomes, with 33% of digital users financially healthy against 9.1% of non-users. On financial health, Ms Akinjayeju noted that “three out of four Nigerians are not financially healthy,” adding that access is increasing while financial health is not catching up at the same pace and called for national targets to measure impact alongside accessand useof financial services.

Commenting on the findings, Dr Oluwatomi Eromosele, Research Lead, EFInA noted.“The message from A2F 2026 is clear: Nigeria’s financial inclusion challenge has changed. The next phase must be about precision: reaching the people and places where gaps remain; conversion: turning existing financial relationships into pathways to credit, protection, investment and financial security; and outcomes: ensuring that inclusion ultimately strengthens people’s resilience and economic opportunity. We now have the evidence; the priority is to use it to focus action where it can make the greatest difference.”

In a closing remark, Amb. Nimi Akinkugbe, Member, EFInA, stated that the real measure of the Survey will not be the quality of the data unveiled but what changes as a result of it, asking where resources will be directed, which interventions will be scaled, and what the room will be able to say has changed in the lives of Nigerians by the time it next meets. She drew attention to the gender findings across the zones, noting that formal inclusion gaps between men and women are often modest while inclusion is not translating into financial health and resilience at the same rate, and that those gaps are widest in the north. “The challenge is not simply bringing more women into the system, but making sure that participation actually results in improved economic lives,” she said.

For more targeted supply-side conversations, the A2F 2026 Industry Engagementis slatedto hold on 25 September 2026 in Lagos for financial service providers, fintechs, insurers and investors.