As part of her National (ML/TF) Risk Assessment (NRA), Nigeria assessed the money laundering/terrorist financing risk in financial inclusion products in Nigeria. This is in compliance with Recommendation 1 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Standards. The objectives of the Assessment is to determine and assess the level of money laundering and terrorism financing threats inherent in existing or proposed products and services targeted at financial inclusion, as well as determine and assess the vulnerabilities of institutions, financial or non-financial actors or professionals.
The assessment covered the formal and semi-formal sectors of the country’s financial system including Banking, Capital Market, Insurance, Pension and Non-Bank Micro Finance Institutions. In Nigeria, financial inclusion is defined as adult Nigerians having easy access to a broad range of formal financial services that meet their needs at an affordable cost. The services include payments, savings, loans, insurance, and pension products. Based on a national survey conducted in 2010 by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA)1, it was revealed that 39.2million Nigerians representing 46.3% of the adult population were financially excluded and had no access to either formal or informal financial services. Also, according to the EFInA 2010 Survey, only 25.4million were banked (representing 30.0% of the adult population) and the main barriers to having a bank account are lack of money, irregular income and distance to the bank.
2016