70% Of Nigerians Have Not Heard Of Mobile Money –Survey

Although the advent of mobile money in Nigeria is more than two years and over 21 operators in the sector have been licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, more than 70 per cent of Nigerians say they have not heard of mobile money.

This is according to a survey on financial literacy done by the Central Bank of Nigeria released yesterday. The survey which took a sample of 13,286 respondents across the country showed that more Nigerians are still not financially literate.

The survey which was to illustrate current levels of awareness and understanding of various financial and economic terms and levels of knowledge of financial processes also showed that very few people, 7.6 per cent have heard of Point-of-Sale, and of terms like bonds, stocks and mortgages.

Also more than a third of Nigerians (35.9 million) have not heard of pensions or a current account, while a third (32.8 million) have not heard the terms interest or current account.

Stating that one out of four people have not heard of a savings account, the survey report said “if people have not even heard of these terms, they are a long way from understanding these terms and ultimately using these products.”

With 50.7 per cent of the adult population having no formal educational qualifications or has only completed primary education, the survey report says “this calls for the use of simple language in financial documents and financial education initiatives.”

It also noted that the youths that drop out of school or never enroll will not benefit from financial education interventions embedded in school curricula, and will have to be reached through other means.

Meanwhile the CBN has released the National Financial Literacy Framework which is an outline  for  implementing  financial literacy  towards  the  attainment  of  the  objectives  of  the  financial  inclusion strategy and ultimately, financial system stability.

The National Financial Literacy Framework is a revised edition of the financial  literacy  framework  (FLF)  which was  developed  in  2013  to  provide  a blueprint  for  implementing  financial  literacy  for  the  attainment  of  financial system  stability  and  as  a  key  component  for  the  implementation  of  the National Financial Inclusion Strategy.

SOURCE:LEADERSHIP