Former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has acknowledged that restricting telecommunications companies from entering Nigeria’s financial services market during his tenure at the apex bank was a policy mistake that may have slowed financial inclusion.
Sanusi, who is also the Emir of Kano, said his decision was influenced by concerns over depositor protection in the aftermath of the banking crisis, but developments in digital finance had since shown that telcos and technology companies could significantly expand access to financial services.
He spoke on Wednesday at a fireside chat during the launch of the 2026 Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Survey Report by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access in Abuja.
The session was moderated by the Dean of Lagos Business School, Prof. Olayinka David-West.
Recalling the policy decision, Sanusi said, “I’m responsible for delaying the entry of telcos into this space.”
He explained that the banking crisis had made regulators particularly cautious about allowing companies outside the direct supervision of the CBN to handle large volumes of customers’ funds.
“Part of the challenge, of course, was that we had just come out of a banking crisis where we were worried about depositors’ funds. And I wasn’t comfortable allowing companies that I was not a primary regulator of to have access to a huge pool of funds,” he said.
With the benefit of hindsight, however, Sanusi said the policy had not produced the desired outcome.
“So again, this is one case where you have a good intention, but you take a wrong decision,” he said.
He recalled that he resisted calls from the World Bank and other stakeholders to allow telecommunications companies into the financial services space more rapidly.
“I fought the World Bank. I fought everybody,” Sanusi said.
He added that Nigeria could have recorded greater progress in financial inclusion had telcos been allowed to participate earlier.
“I do think if I had allowed that to happen, it would have been much more progress,” he said.
Sanusi attributed the recent acceleration in financial inclusion partly to the expansion of technology-driven financial services, arguing that traditional banks lacked the physical reach required to serve a large proportion of the population.
“I think we made more progress in the last few years than we did in the first one, because the banks simply don’t have the boots on the ground. They don’t have the footprint,” he said.
His comments came as the latest EFInA survey showed that Nigeria's overall financial inclusion rate had risen to 79 per cent in 2026, while financial exclusion fell to 21 per cent.
Formal financial inclusion also increased from 64 per cent in 2023 to 73 per cent in 2026.
Despite the improvement, Sanusi cautioned against equating access to financial services with improved household welfare.
“Opening an account, moving money, is not the same as earning money. It’s not the same as talking about poverty,” he said.
He argued that the next phase of financial inclusion should focus on connecting financial services with productive economic activities, including agriculture, manufacturing and trade.
According to him, digital financial companies are better positioned to achieve this because of the transaction data and networks generated through their platforms.
Sanusi said the same infrastructure could be deployed to increase participation in savings, pensions and insurance, particularly among informal-sector workers.
He proposed that major digital financial service providers should be encouraged to develop products that allow small amounts to be accumulated from routine transactions, rather than requiring customers to make large periodic contributions.
Such systems, he said, could help millions of informal workers build financial buffers for emergencies, retirement and insurance.
The former CBN governor also stressed the importance of price stability to financial inclusion, warning that persistent inflation could undermine savings and wealth accumulation.
“There is no enemy to savings, no enemy to wealth that is bigger than inflation,” he said.
He urged the CBN to remain focused on controlling inflation and resist pressure to abandon tight monetary policy prematurely.
Sanusi also recalled efforts during his tenure to establish a unified identification system for bank customers.
He said the resistance encountered at the time reflected the difficulty of implementing industry-wide reforms, but maintained that the infrastructure developed since then could provide a foundation for expanding credit, insurance and pension services.
He said policymakers must now focus on converting financial access into tangible economic opportunities.
The former CBN governor also raised concerns about fragmented consumer-protection responsibilities within the financial sector.
He argued that consumers could be confused when several regulators have overlapping responsibilities, particularly when resolving complaints involving financial institutions.
“Consumer protection is so critical to financial inclusion that once you begin to fragment and there isn’t one point of call, there is an issue,” Sanusi said.
He called for clearer lines of responsibility among the CBN, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and other sector regulators to strengthen consumer confidence in the financial system.
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