The Federal Government of Nigeria on Monday flagged off a free training programme aimed at equipping 10 million Nigerians with financial inclusion and literacy skills, as part of efforts to strengthen participation in the country’s evolving digital economy.
The training, which is being implemented through the Office of the Vice President in collaboration with the Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion, PreCEFI, is targeted mainly at women and youths and is designed to provide essential financial skills, investment knowledge and digital competencies for sustainable wealth creation.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima said Nigeria could only reap the benefits of its demographic dividend if young people and women are properly equipped with the skills and ethical grounding required for a fast-growing digital economy.
According to him, the initiative reflects the Federal Government’s resolve to ensure that financial inclusion goes beyond access to include competence, trust and capability among citizens.
As part of the programme, the Office of the Vice President, through PreCEFI, signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, with six professional bodies to jointly design training programmes, certification pathways, digital skills initiatives and mentorship platforms that would strengthen Nigeria’s financial and enterprise workforce.
The professional bodies are the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN; the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN; the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, CIS; the National Institute of Credit Administration, NICA; the Chartered Risk Management Institute, CRMI; and the Nigeria Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, NIIE.
Vice President Shettima described the signing of the MOU as more than a formal agreement, saying it represents a long-term national investment in capacity development.
“It is a strategic national investment in capacity as infrastructure, which is the human, institutional, and ethical foundations upon which inclusive growth must rest,” he stated.
He said the Aso Accord on Economic and Financial Inclusion, which PreCEFI is mandated to implement, recognises that financial inclusion cannot be achieved by access alone.
According to him, “financial inclusion is not achieved by access alone, but by competence, trust, and capability.”
The Vice President warned that Nigeria cannot build a one-trillion-dollar economy on weak skills, fragmented standards or disconnected professional ecosystems.
“This MOU therefore establishes a working framework to harness the collective expertise of ICAN, CIBN, CIS, CRMI, NICA, and NIIE to advance inclusion through capacity building, advocacy, digital transformation, youth empowerment, and support for small and medium practitioners,” he said.
Vice President Shettima noted that capacity building is central to financial inclusion.
“Without accountants who understand MSME formalisation, credit administrators who can assess risk beyond collateral, bankers who embed consumer protection, risk professionals who anticipate digital threats, and innovators who translate ideas into enterprises, inclusion remains a slogan rather than a system,” he said.
Emphasising the focus on women and youths, the Vice President said the programme was deliberately structured to prioritise these groups.
“Importantly, this collaboration prioritises women and youth inclusion and digital transformation, recognising that Nigeria’s demographic dividend will only materialise if young people are equipped with relevant skills and ethical grounding for a fast-evolving digital economy,” he said.
He urged PreCEFI and the participating professional bodies to treat the MOU as an active platform for implementation.
“Accordingly, on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, I hereby flag off the free training of 10 million Nigerians with priority for women and youth across the country,” the Vice President declared.
Earlier, the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Mallam Haruna Nma Yahaya, commended the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for economic reforms that led to the launch of the free financial inclusion training programme.
Yahaya said the decision to embark on the initiative was informed by visible improvements in the economy following recent policy reforms.
He assured the Vice President of the full support of the professional bodies in achieving the objectives of the programme, describing their participation as an institutional honour.
For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of WAWU Africa, the technical partners for the programme, Mr Emmanuel Lennox, expressed readiness to deliver on the project by providing the required digital platform and enabling environment.
Also speaking, the Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion, Dr Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, explained the rationale behind the training initiative.
“Exclusion is not only by lack of access, but by limited skills, weak institutional capacity, and insufficient professional support,” he said.
He added that “financial inclusion is not achieved by infrastructure alone; it is achieved when people and institutions are equipped to use that infrastructure responsibly, productively, and sustainably.”
The event featured the formal signing of the MOU on capacity building between the Federal Government and the six professional bodies, marking the official commencement of the financial inclusion and literacy training programme nationwide
