By Adamu Lawal Toro
Across the developing world, governments are discovering that the battle against poverty is no longer won through roads, bridges and physical infrastructure alone. Increasingly, it is won by bringing citizens into the formal financial system. A bank account is no longer merely a place to keep money; it has become the gateway to government services, business opportunities, credit, insurance, pensions and economic empowerment.
This is why Kaduna State’s aggressive push towards financial inclusion deserves national attention.
While many states still regard financial inclusion as the exclusive responsibility of banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Governor Uba Sani has elevated it to the centre of governance. His administration understands a simple reality: citizens who remain outside the financial system are also likely to remain outside the development process.
That understanding is rooted in experience. Before becoming governor, Uba Sani chaired the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, where he oversaw banking reforms, financial regulation and policies aimed at expanding access to finance. Few governors assumed office with such a deep understanding of how financial systems shape economic development, and fewer have translated that knowledge into public policy with the urgency Kaduna has demonstrated.
Nigeria’s financial inclusion journey has produced mixed results. Although millions of adults now have access to formal financial services, large8 numbers, particularly women, rural dwellers, smallholder farmers and informal sector operators—remain excluded. Northern Nigeria accounts for the largest concentration of financially excluded citizens, creating a development gap that extends far beyond banking.
Financial exclusion is, in reality, economic exclusion.
A farmer without a bank account struggles to obtain affordable credit. A woman without a digital wallet may be unable to receive government grants. A young entrepreneur operating entirely in cash cannot build the financial history needed to access business loans. Entire communities become invisible to formal economic planning.
Kaduna’s response has been to integrate financial inclusion into governance itself.
In 2023, Governor Uba Sani signed an Executive Order establishing the Financial Inclusion and Literacy Committee (FILC), giving it a dual mandate: expand access to bank accounts, Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) and National Identification Numbers (NINs), while improving financial literacy across the state.
The programme deployed biometric devices, offline account-opening technology for communities with weak network coverage, and a multi-layered mobilisation strategy reaching local governments, wards and grassroots communities. By April 2025, more than two million previously unbanked residents had been brought into the formal financial system.
At first glance, this may appear administrative. In reality, it is transformational.
Nigeria is steadily digitising public service delivery. Conditional cash transfers, student support, agricultural subsidies, health insurance, pensions, MSME financing and youth empowerment programmes increasingly depend on electronic payment systems. In this environment, the absence of a financial identity is becoming a barrier to accessing government opportunities.
Kaduna is determined to ensure its citizens are not left behind.
Building on these achievements, the Kaduna State Government has now unveiled a comprehensive Financial and Economic Inclusion Roadmap, carefully designed to move the programme from mass enrolment to sustainable economic participation. The roadmap provides a structured framework for the next phase of implementation and is anchored on five strategic pillars.
The first pillar focuses on expanding financial literacy and awareness, ensuring that citizens possess the knowledge and confidence to use financial products responsibly. Financial inclusion cannot succeed if newly opened accounts remain dormant because their owners lack understanding of savings, credit, insurance or digital payments.
The second pillar seeks to accelerate account onboarding and the integration of National Identification Numbers (NIN), Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), bank account numbers and registered telephone numbers. By creating a unified digital identity ecosystem, the state aims to simplify access to government services, social intervention programmes and formal financial products while strengthening transparency and reducing fraud.
The third pillar is the expansion of inclusive access to finance and financial services. This extends beyond opening bank accounts to ensuring that women, farmers, artisans, traders, micro-enterprises and underserved rural communities have access to affordable credit, savings products, insurance, pensions and digital financial services through stronger partnerships with banks, fintech companies and agent banking networks.
The fourth pillar focuses on the expansion of digital infrastructure and services. Reliable digital connectivity is essential for financial inclusion. The roadmap therefore seeks to strengthen payment systems, digital connectivity and technological infrastructure that will support cashless transactions, e-commerce, digital governance and financial innovation across Kaduna State.
The fifth pillar aims at the institutionalisation of financial inclusion within Kaduna’s governance structure. Rather than treating financial inclusion as a temporary programme, the government intends to embed it permanently into the planning, budgeting and service delivery processes of ministries, departments and agencies, making it an enduring pillar of governance.
Collectively, these five pillars demonstrate that Kaduna’s ambition extends well beyond increasing the number of bank accounts. The objective is to build an inclusive economic ecosystem in which every resident can participate meaningfully in the formal economy and benefit from the opportunities created by Nigeria’s ongoing digital transformation.
Phase II of the programme, previously organised around the themes of Access, Integration and Literacy, now finds broader expression within this new roadmap and targets an additional two million residents between 2025 and 2026. This aligns closely with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reform agenda, which places increasing emphasis on digital governance, targeted social protection, tax reforms and efficient public spending. None of these reforms can achieve maximum impact while millions remain outside the formal financial system.
Financial inclusion is therefore no longer simply a banking policy; it has become a cornerstone of economic reform.
Perhaps nowhere is its impact more significant than among women.
The EFInA Access to Financial Services Survey shows that only 53 percent of adult women in Kaduna are formally served financially, compared with 71 percent of men. Cultural barriers, lower incomes, limited financial literacy and distance from banking facilities continue to exclude many women from formal finance.
Kaduna’s strategy directly confronts these challenges by expanding female banking agents, integrating traditional women’s savings groups (Adashe) into digital finance and embedding financial literacy within women’s empowerment programmes.
International experience consistently shows that when women gain access to financial services, household nutrition improves, children’s education receives greater investment and family incomes become more stable. Financial inclusion therefore produces social as well as economic dividends.
Agriculture presents another compelling case. Kaduna is one of Nigeria’s leading agricultural states, yet agriculture cannot become fully commercial while millions of farmers remain outside formal finance. Modern agriculture requires affordable credit, crop insurance, warehouse financing, digital payments and organised value chains.
Recognising this, Kaduna’s roadmap promotes seasonal financial products aligned with agricultural cycles, including crop loans, harvest-linked savings and takaful insurance. The state has also committed 5,000 hectares to an innovative in-grower arrangement identified by the Office of the Vice President as part of Nigeria’s financial inclusion pilot programme, enabling farmers to receive agricultural inputs and repay through harvested produce.
Small and medium-sized enterprises stand to benefit equally. Entrepreneurs with financial records are far more likely to secure loans, attract investors and expand operations than businesses operating solely in cash.
There is also a governance dividend. Cash-based interventions have historically been vulnerable to leakages, diversion and ghost beneficiaries. Digital financial systems reduce these risks by transferring funds directly into verified accounts.
Kaduna has already demonstrated this in practice. By integrating NIN, SIM registration, BVN and bank account information into a unified verification platform, the state created a reliable beneficiary database that has supported two major intervention programmes. The KD-CARES Programme reached over 304,000 beneficiaries, while the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme served more than 23,000 people, including women, youth, older persons and persons with disabilities.
Digital verification was not merely a supporting tool; it became the foundation for transparent and accountable service delivery.
There are equally important fiscal benefits. As more citizens and businesses enter the formal financial system, government gains access to better economic data. Better data leads to more accurate budgeting, stronger internally generated revenue, improved planning and evidence-based policymaking.
Kaduna has complemented financial inclusion with identity management. Through the Kaduna State Residents Identity Management Agency (KADRIMA), approximately 6.8 million residents have now been enrolled into the National Identity Database and the Kaduna State Master Database, providing a stronger foundation for planning, service delivery and financial access.
International experience reinforces this strategy.
Kenya transformed financial access through M-Pesa. India combined digital identity with electronic payments to dramatically expand government service delivery. Rwanda has similarly used digital finance to strengthen inclusion and economic participation.
Kaduna appears to be adapting these lessons to Nigeria’s realities through a combination of executive leadership, institutional reforms and partnerships involving commercial banks, fintech companies, development partners and federal agencies.
The challenge now is sustainability. Opening bank accounts is only the first step. Dormant accounts do little to transform lives. Citizens must actively save, borrow responsibly, insure assets, receive payments and conduct business electronically.
This requires continuous financial education, stronger consumer protection, improved telecommunications infrastructure and reliable electricity. Without these supporting conditions, digital financial services cannot achieve their full potential, particularly in rural communities.
Even so, the available evidence suggests Kaduna is moving in the right direction. According to EFInA, formal financial inclusion in Kaduna rose from 45 percent in 2020 to 57 percent in 2023, while financial exclusion declined from 55 percent to 36 percent during the same period. The proportion of adults with bank accounts also increased significantly, reflecting steady progress rather than isolated success.
The national recognition that has followed is therefore unsurprising. The Office of the Vice President has designated Kaduna as a pilot state for Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive. The Central Bank of Nigeria is reportedly considering the state for one of its flagship financial inclusion programmes. Most significantly, Governor Uba Sani has been appointed to the Governing Board of the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion (PreCEFI), representing Northern Nigeria.
These are not ceremonial honours. They are institutional acknowledgements that Kaduna has moved beyond ambition to measurable implementation.
Governor Uba Sani’s financial inclusion agenda therefore represents much more than a banking initiative. It is an investment in human capital, economic resilience, institutional transparency and inclusive growth. It also demonstrates that a northern Nigerian state can lead national policy innovation rather than simply follow it.
History shows that prosperous societies do not succeed merely because they create wealth. They succeed because they build institutions that enable every citizen to participate in creating that wealth.
Kaduna’s financial inclusion revolution is no longer an experiment; it is becoming a proof of concept. The institutional architecture is in place. Millions of citizens have already entered the formal financial system. The newly launched five-pillar Financial and Economic Inclusion Roadmap provides a clear blueprint for sustaining that momentum through financial literacy, digital identity integration, expanded access to finance, digital infrastructure and institutional reforms. Strategic partnerships with banks, fintech companies, development partners and the federal government continue to deepen. Most importantly, financial inclusion is no longer treated as a standalone banking objective but as the foundation for social protection, agricultural transformation, digital governance and economic opportunity.
For decades, discussions about financial inclusion in Nigeria have been dominated by policy papers and ambitious targets. Kaduna is demonstrating what implementation looks like. What many states are still planning, Kaduna has begun delivering. If the momentum is sustained, the state’s greatest legacy may not simply be the millions of new bank accounts it has helped create, but the millions of citizens who, through financial inclusion, gain a genuine opportunity to participate in Nigeria’s economic future and in doing so, set a development agenda that other Nigerian states may well seek to emulate.
