Abstract
The goal of this study was to see how financial inclusion affects gender-based poverty in Nigeria. Commercial bank branches, deposits, and borrowers were the proxy for financial inclusion. The poverty index was used to measure poverty reduction. The World Development Indicator (WDI) and the CBN Statistical Bulletin 2021 provided the data for this study. Finally, the study included the years 2002 to 2019. Financial inclusion reduces household poverty in Nigeria, according to the study, which used a VAR estimate. The coefficients of commercial bank branches and commercial bank deposits were (-0.004) and (-0.008), respectively, indicating that they had a negative influence on poverty reduction. Furthermore, the study discovered that having access to credit through a financial institution was crucial in lowering poverty in Nigeria over the study period. As a result, the report recommends that steps to promote the rule of law, particularly contract enforcement and financial regulatory inspection, be implemented, resulting in more financial inclusion and a reduction in poverty and income gaps, particularly between men and women. The benefits of financial inclusion must be made more widely known, particularly in rural regions, through promoting financial literacy among the poor through education, advertising, and traditional institutions.
Highlights
Despite various programmes to alleviate and/or eradicate poverty, which is defined as a condition whereby a person lacks the means to maintain an acceptable quality of living, poverty remains a serious problem in African economies
The findings revealed that financial inclusion contributes to poverty reduction above a cutoff point of 0.365, with money supply being positively related to poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan African (SSA)
Because of its relevance in decreasing poverty and fostering overall economic growth and development, scholars and policymakers have continued to focus on the influence of financial inclusion on poverty and development
Summary
Despite various programmes to alleviate and/or eradicate poverty, which is defined as a condition whereby a person lacks the means (financial and otherwise) to maintain an acceptable quality of living, poverty remains a serious problem in African economies. For years, many scholars, policymakers, and researchers have focused on the effect of financial inclusion on poverty reduction and economic growth in a country, due to its effect on improving access to financial services, which acts as a stimulus for. Financial inclusion is a social inclusion approach that tries to improve all members of an economy's access to, availability of, and use of the formal financial system (Wakdok, 2018) It entails providing individuals and businesses with useful and cheap financial goods and services ethically and sustainably (World Bank, 2018). Any development strategy that ignores half of the population's life possibilities will fail to address poverty and sustainability concerns This is why, at this critical juncture in global transition, the development process must incorporate a comprehensive agenda for women's empowerment that takes into account all aspects of women's lives. The research used secondary data gathered from publications of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Bureau of Statistics (2021), and the data was analyzed using an ordinary least squares multiple regression approach
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