Nigeria's formal financial inclusion rate climbed to 73% in the most recent Access to Financial Services survey by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), up from 64% in 2023. That translates to roughly 87.2 million Nigerian adults now inside the formal financial system. The share of adults left out entirely dropped from 26% to 21%. On paper, those are real gains worth celebrating.
But here is where the story gets complicated. Of those 87.2 million formally included adults, only about 12 million, around 10%, can actually access formal credit. Having a bank account and receiving digital payments does not automatically put a loan within reach. Lenders still need to verify income, assess repayment capacity, and weigh existing financial obligations before approving anything.
The numbers at the top of the market reflect this tension. Outstanding consumer credit in Nigeria fell from 4.72 trillion naira in 2024 to 3.78 trillion naira in 2025, a drop of nearly 20%, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria. That is a significant contraction at a time when more Nigerians than ever hold formal accounts.
For people shut out of affordable formal lending, informal sources are filling the gap. EFInA found that 16% of Nigerian adults borrow through informal channels, and another 10% turn to family and friends. Research firm Stears puts the potential credit demand among informal borrowers who could transition to formal lending at $621 million.
Cost remains the other half of the access problem. Getting a loan and getting a loan you can actually afford are two very different things, and for millions of Nigerians, that distance is still very wide.
Originally published by TechCabal.