The Emir of Kano and a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido, has called for deeper integration between Nigeria’s financial system and the real economy to ensure that increased financial access translates into improved household welfare.
Mr Sanusi made the call during a fireside chat at the launch ceremony of the Access to Financial Services 2026 Report (A2F) in Abuja on Wednesday.
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The monarch argued that financial institutions alone could not create economic prosperity, stressing the need for sound fiscal and structural policies that would attract investment and support the production of goods and services.
According to him, the country’s financial system must be connected to farmers, manufacturers, markets and other productive sectors of the economy rather than merely facilitating financial transactions.
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“Financial institutions do not themselves create the economy,” Mr Sanusi said.
“If you want to build an economy, you need to have the right structural policies, the right fiscal policies, an environment that attracts investment, and so on.”
He said the growth of fintech companies and payment service providers was helping to establish a stronger connection between financial flows and the real economy.
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Mr Sanusi also advocated greater use of existing financial infrastructure, including the Bank Verification Number (BVN), to expand access to financial services.
He recalled his role in introducing the BVN. He said the decision to establish a unified customer identification system across banks created infrastructure that could support access to credit, insurance, pensions, and other services.
“We have the infrastructure. We have the base. The question is, how do you now build on that?” he asked.
Leverage fintech data
Mr Sanusi urged the CBN to engage major fintech and payment companies and use their transaction data to develop savings, insurance and pension products for Nigerians, particularly those in underserved areas.
“If I were in the Central Bank today, I would call in MoneyPoint and OPay and say, ‘Guys, you have all this data. You are transferring money. Let me know how you can build pension products on top of this. How can you build savings for us on top of this?”
He argued that companies that handle large volumes of transactions and reach rural communities could help financial regulators develop products tailored to the needs of low-income households.
He also called for greater financial literacy, saying Nigerians should be encouraged to build savings gradually through small, regular contributions.
Mr Sanusi said insurance should similarly be integrated into the financial ecosystem, particularly for businesses and farmers exposed to risks such as fire, crop failure and extreme weather.
He said the CBN’s convening power could be used to bring financial regulators and private-sector players together to develop such products.
“The Central Bank should say, ‘Guys, let’s all come into a room. I’m bringing the other regulators. Let’s all sit down and see how this comes together,” he said.
Policy consistency
The former CBN governor also warned that financial-sector reforms could be undermined if consistent fiscal, agricultural and structural policies did not support them.
He cited the reopening of the market to food imports as an example of a policy that could provide short-term relief to consumers while creating longer-term challenges for domestic producers.
According to him, policymakers should consider the impact of such measures on farmers, processors, businesses and banks that had invested in domestic agricultural value chains.
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“We need to get the macroeconomy right,” he said, stressing that financial-sector policies must be integrated with broader economic policies.
Mr Sanusi also argued that government interventions should focus on supporting vulnerable households directly while strengthening domestic production.
He said cash transfers and other social protection measures could help poor households maintain consumption while creating demand for locally produced goods and services.
Northern Nigeria and Regulatory Coordination
On financial inclusion in Northern Nigeria, Mr Sanusi said policymakers must recognise that different parts of the country were at different stages of development and therefore required different interventions.
He said financial inclusion strategies should take into account the high levels of poverty and limited access to formal financial services in some parts of the North.
He also stressed the importance of ensuring that social transfers reach their intended beneficiaries.
Mr Sanusi also called for clearer delineation of responsibilities among Nigeria’s financial and consumer protection regulators.
He expressed concern about potential overlaps between the CBN’s consumer protection function and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), saying consumers could be left confused when complaints involve multiple regulators.
He said the relevant sector regulator should primarily handle individual complaints involving regulated entities, while broader consumer protection and competition issues could be handled at the appropriate level.
He proposed using a clear responsibility matrix to establish the roles of different regulators.
Mr Sanusi said greater regulatory coordination would strengthen consumer protection, which he described as critical to the success of financial inclusion.
The discussion concluded with a call for Nigeria to move beyond measuring financial inclusion by access to accounts and instead focus on whether financial services help households build savings, manage risks, access credit, and participate meaningfully in the productive economy.
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