EFInA, Interswitch…10 companies receive awards at CBN’s financial inclusion conference

10 companies received awards in different categories at the 2022 International Financial Inclusion Conference (IFIC’22).

The award ceremony was held on Thursday at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

Themed ‘celebrating champions of inclusion’, the event was attended by conference delegates, financial system regulators, award nominees, and other stakeholders in the Nigerian financial inclusion ecosystem.

The recipients of the awards were selected following a rigorous and transparent nomination and selection process superintended by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

The awardees include: Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (financial inclusion innovation award); Access Bank (national women’s financial inclusion award); Jaiz Bank (financially inclusive bank of the year); Lapo Microfinance Bank Limited (financially inclusive MFB of the year); Remita and Interswitch (financially inclusive fintech of the year).

Others are; Liberty Assured Limited (inclusive financial product award); Modupe Ladipo (financial inclusion leadership award); Etranzact (financially inclusive agent of the year); TeamApt Limited (national inclusive payment initiative award); and Remita Payment Service Limited (financial services infrastructure innovation award).

Speaking on behalf of Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Aishah Ahmad, the apex bank’s deputy governor, financial system stability; said the maiden financial inclusion awards were conceived to acknowledge and celebrate individuals and institutions who played a key role in advancing financial inclusion in Nigeria since the national financial inclusion strategy (NFIS) was launched a decade ago.

She thanked Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), who was also the special guest of honor at the event, and Paulen Tallen, minister of women affairs, for their support, adding that their presence was a strong signal of collaboration by regulators and government on financial inclusion.

Ahmad was also presented with a special award for promoting country partnerships by the Central Bank of Egypt in recognition of leadership provided in the Central Bank of Nigeria – Central Bank of Egypt fintech bridge which was launched earlier in the day.

On his part, Mustapha commended the CBN for hosting the conference and spotlighting financial inclusion given its positive impact on the welfare of Nigerian  citizens.

Both Tallen, and Femi Lijadu, the chairman of the board of the Securities and Exchange Commission, stressed on collaboration across the public and private sector to ensure all Nigerians participate fully in the Nigerian economy through financial inclusion.