Financial Experts have stressed on the need for informal sector to leverage data facility for inclusive finance and business inclusion adding that part of the move was the launching of Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, by the Federal Government to tackle lack of data by supporting undocumented businesses with micro-credit facility.
The experts revealed that findings from International Labour Organization show that 60% of the world’s employed population operate within the informal economy, with Africa alone having 85.8% of its employment streams from the informal sector. Speaking at the GEEP Media Parley Event with the theme; Securing Our Informal Economy Amidst A Post Covid Reality, Founder of Bankly, A digital saving platform,Tomi Adejana, explained that the current method used by most business owners in the informal sector are limiting, given the lack of credit history it helps them to build.
She affirmed that education is a core factor in financial exclusion but lack of knowledge about credit facilities and how to access it prevents people within the informal sector from having that as an option while adding that the lack of data for most of them remains a huge setback. Speaking, Onyeka Akpadia, Founder Rendra Foundation, noted that organisation should promote inclusive finance for low-income women to enable them understand how the informal sector works stressing that there’s a huge household dependency on the incomes of people, many of whom are women, running most of Nigeria’s informal businesses.