12. Gendered Dimension for Digital Financial Inclusion in Nigeria

Financial inclusion offers a myriad of benefits for economic development. Accordingly, it has been incorporated into national, regional and international development objectives. However, increasing gender disparities, especially in terms of access to and delivery of financial services, is counterproductive to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which emphasizes leaving no one behind by 2030. Several strategies and efforts have been put in place to close the financial gap between men and women in developing countries, but with little success. Given the vital role digital finance plays in advancing financial inclusion, this chapter examined the gender gap in access to financial services and the role of digital finance in addressing this gap in Nigeria. The findings confirmed the pervasiveness of gender gaps in access to digital financial services in Nigeria as more men than women have access to digital finance platforms. This may be attributed to low levels of digital literacy, inadequate financial infrastructure and low Internet penetration, among others. On the whole, the chapter concludes that financial inclusion seems like a mirage in Nigeria, but digital finance has great potential to encourage financial inclusion in the country since it has enhanced access to financial products and services by gender. Therefore, the chapter advocates the need to adequately equip the Nigerian financial sector to provide improved financial services to both women and men, without prejudice or discrimination and build physical infrastructure to foster financial integration in Nigeria.