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Rethinking the legal and institutional framework for digital financial inclusion in Nigeria
About 1.7 billion people globally and 36.8 per cent of Nigerians have no access to financial services due to reasons such as distance, financial illiteracy, irregular income, unemployment and account ineligibility. Justifications for the research include the scale of financial exclusion, the proven...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Commercial Law
2021
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| _version_ | 1867614197686206464 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Monye, Ogochukwu Fidelia |
| author2 | Ordor, Ada |
| author_browse | Monye, Ogochukwu Fidelia Ordor, Ada |
| author_facet | Ordor, Ada Monye, Ogochukwu Fidelia |
| author_sort | Monye, Ogochukwu Fidelia |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | About 1.7 billion people globally and 36.8 per cent of Nigerians have no access to financial services due to reasons such as distance, financial illiteracy, irregular income, unemployment and account ineligibility. Justifications for the research include the scale of financial exclusion, the proven capacity of financial inclusion to lift people out of poverty, the need for tailored regulatory policies and the opportunity to harness the value and ubiquity of digital financial services (DFS) for the financially excluded. This research examines the broad question: how suitable are the enabling laws and institutions for digital financial services in Nigeria for addressing the needs of the financially excluded? In considering this broad question, the reasons as to why many Nigerians remain financially excluded, in spite of the abundance of regulatory initiatives, are addressed. Using a combination of doctrinal and empirical methods, the burden of accessing financial services is highlighted, strategies for financial inclusion are considered and options for suitable legal and institutional frameworks are explored. In summary, financial inclusion is broadly discussed in chapter one, while a law and development theoretical and analytical framework is constructed in chapter two. Chapter three examines the legal and institutional framework for financial inclusion in Nigeria while the barriers to financial access are discussed in chapter four. The empirical component of the research is analysed in chapter five, and chapter six considers the impact and prospects of eight new and emerging technologies on financial inclusion. The thesis concludes with recommendations and conclusions in chapter seven. Research results indicate that the path to financial inclusion in Nigeria is characterised by a myriad of laws, slow DFS adoption rates, a bank-centred regulatory model and a wide disparity in the pattern of inclusion across gender and geographical locations. Transaction costs remain high and cash is still king. Recommendations such as adopting a more consumer-centred approach to regulation, permitting alternative providers for on-boarding and adapting laws and regulatory policies tailored to the needs of the excluded are made. Additionally, it is recommended that increased financial literacy and transactional capacity are needed to harness digital financial services. It is expected that the findings of this research will inform regulatory changes that will enable a methodical migration of more of the financially excluded class into the formal finance sector. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/33857 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:48:13.289Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Department of Commercial Law |
| publisherStr | Department of Commercial Law |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/33857 Rethinking the legal and institutional framework for digital financial inclusion in Nigeria Monye, Ogochukwu Fidelia Ordor, Ada Buthelezi, Silindile Commercial Law About 1.7 billion people globally and 36.8 per cent of Nigerians have no access to financial services due to reasons such as distance, financial illiteracy, irregular income, unemployment and account ineligibility. Justifications for the research include the scale of financial exclusion, the proven capacity of financial inclusion to lift people out of poverty, the need for tailored regulatory policies and the opportunity to harness the value and ubiquity of digital financial services (DFS) for the financially excluded. This research examines the broad question: how suitable are the enabling laws and institutions for digital financial services in Nigeria for addressing the needs of the financially excluded? In considering this broad question, the reasons as to why many Nigerians remain financially excluded, in spite of the abundance of regulatory initiatives, are addressed. Using a combination of doctrinal and empirical methods, the burden of accessing financial services is highlighted, strategies for financial inclusion are considered and options for suitable legal and institutional frameworks are explored. In summary, financial inclusion is broadly discussed in chapter one, while a law and development theoretical and analytical framework is constructed in chapter two. Chapter three examines the legal and institutional framework for financial inclusion in Nigeria while the barriers to financial access are discussed in chapter four. The empirical component of the research is analysed in chapter five, and chapter six considers the impact and prospects of eight new and emerging technologies on financial inclusion. The thesis concludes with recommendations and conclusions in chapter seven. Research results indicate that the path to financial inclusion in Nigeria is characterised by a myriad of laws, slow DFS adoption rates, a bank-centred regulatory model and a wide disparity in the pattern of inclusion across gender and geographical locations. Transaction costs remain high and cash is still king. Recommendations such as adopting a more consumer-centred approach to regulation, permitting alternative providers for on-boarding and adapting laws and regulatory policies tailored to the needs of the excluded are made. Additionally, it is recommended that increased financial literacy and transactional capacity are needed to harness digital financial services. It is expected that the findings of this research will inform regulatory changes that will enable a methodical migration of more of the financially excluded class into the formal finance sector. 2021-09-13T09:24:27Z 2021-09-13T09:24:27Z 2021 2021-09-10T09:35:48Z Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33857 eng application/pdf Department of Commercial Law Faculty of Law |
| spellingShingle | Commercial Law Monye, Ogochukwu Fidelia Rethinking the legal and institutional framework for digital financial inclusion in Nigeria |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | Rethinking the legal and institutional framework for digital financial inclusion in Nigeria |
| title_full | Rethinking the legal and institutional framework for digital financial inclusion in Nigeria |
| title_fullStr | Rethinking the legal and institutional framework for digital financial inclusion in Nigeria |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rethinking the legal and institutional framework for digital financial inclusion in Nigeria |
| title_short | Rethinking the legal and institutional framework for digital financial inclusion in Nigeria |
| title_sort | rethinking the legal and institutional framework for digital financial inclusion in nigeria |
| topic | Commercial Law |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33857 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT monyeogochukwufidelia rethinkingthelegalandinstitutionalframeworkfordigitalfinancialinclusioninnigeria |