EFInA Hosts Discourse on Increasing Opportunities for Women in Agent Banking in Nigeria

Wednesday, June 26, 2019 / 07:50PM /Bukola Akinyele for Proshare WebTV / Header Image Credit: WebTV

The Enhancing Financial Innovation andAccess Group, EFInA a financial sector development organization,yesterday hosted its 2019 Agent Network Breakfast series in Lagos.

The CEO of EFInA, Mr. Esaie Diei in his openingremarks informed stakeholders that about 20.5 million women are financiallyexcluded in Nigeria.

Diei said that to close the gender gap in financialaccess in Nigeria, there is a need to encourage more participation ofwomen in Agent Banking.

According to EFInA’s CEO the objective of the AgentNetwork Breakfast Series was to achieve the following;

Evaluate the gender dynamics in Agent Banking
Identify the issues hindering the participation ofwomen in Agency Banking
Highlighting opportunities to close the Gender gap
Share insight that will enable financial servicesproviders to design financial product in services with value for female Agent
To share conversation and initiative that will drivethe development of widespread female agent Network across Nigeria especially inNorthern State
Identify challenges in the real in participation ofwomen in Agent Banking and ways to overcome these barriers.

Speaking further Diei outlinedthe following as key expectations of the forum;

Implementing winning strategies for female Agents inVarious Organization
EFInA participants updating there status from time totime in respect 0f engagement as part of an Agent Networking Strategy tosupport women financial inclusion

Programme Specialist of EFInA, Mr Henry Chukwu, alsogave a presentation on “Assessing the Impact of Female Agents in DrivingFinancial Inclusion in Nigeria”.

He informed stakeholders that the recent surveycarried out by EFInA revealed the following;

50 million Adult women in Nigeria, are between theages of 13-35.
14% of the 50million Adult women own mobilephones
57% of the women have formal education and 74% live inrural areas across the country
Only 1% of the women have insurance packages
Only 24% of women owns MSMEs across sub-Sahara Africa.
100% of the women who are financially excluded receivetheir primary income in cash.
92% of the women say the reason why they saveand keep their money at home, is because of proximity, confidenceand quick access to their funds.

The EFInA survey conducted in 2017 on TraditionAgent services, interviewed 818 agents who were randomly selected from database of about of 29, 000. From the surveyonly 22% were female.

It also revealed that majority of the women who are excluded, don’tuse bank services because of factors likecost, slow pace, distance, unemployment, and irregular income.

To close the gender gap and create moreopportunities for women in the agency banking space, financial industry playersshould evolve solutions round proximity and affordability.

The Business case for driving female participationin the agency banking, revolving some of these key issues;

Business Model in Female Agents

Many study have shown that women prefer to show wiseinteraction than men in financial terminology
Female Agent enhance communication and comfort levelfor women customers
Female agent create reassuring environment fortransaction for both male and female customers as they are patient and morewilling to spend time to address queries from the customers.
Studies have also shown that female agent helpcustomer to stick to a provider
They are diligent, helpful and supportive and thishelps to build trust in an environment.

Onthe way forward Chukwu highlighted thefollowing key issues that should be given top priority;

Way Forward

The need to addressInstitutional barriers affecting women participation in Agency Banking
The need to design financialproducts that are suitable for women
The need to adopt a programfor Agent Banking Models that are adaptable for women
Address the issue ininstitutional challenges on lack of capital, and low quality training.
Identify and provide reliableinformation for female Agents
Service Providers should thinkof creating ways that are culturally appropriate to integrate women into theirnetworks, in order to grow customer service.
Create awareness on locationswhere women can access funds

Frama Godfrey a female agent from Kaduna State shared her experience at theAgent Network Breakfast Meeting.

Sharing her experience, Godfrey said she started her business with N30,000, with hermajor customers as women , who did more of cash withdrawals.

She notedthe challenge she faced in the area of network connectivity, stating that shecarried out 40-60 transactions daily, employs more of females, andmade a commission of N50-70,000 every month.