The Federal Government of Nigeria has launched a free nationwide training programme aimed at equipping 10 million Nigerians with financial literacy, digital skills, and investment knowledge.
The initiative prioritizes women and youth to support sustainable wealth creation in the country’s rapidly evolving digital economy.
The programme is led by the Office of the Vice President through the Presidential Committee on Economic & Financial Inclusion (PreCEFI), chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Professional bodies involved include:
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN)
Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN)
Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS)
National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA)
Chartered Risk Management Institute (CRMI)
Nigeria Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NIIE)
WAWU Africa is the technical partner, providing the digital platform and enabling infrastructures.
The programme aims to foster financial competence, trust, and capability, ensuring access to financial systems is accompanied by the skills to use them effectively.
Vice President Shettima described the initiative as a “strategic national investment in human, institutional, and ethical capacity”, emphasizing the role of youth and women in realising Nigeria’s demographic dividend.
Dr. Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, Technical Adviser on Economic and Financial Inclusion, highlighted the need for practical skills alongside infrastructure, stating that financial inclusion is incomplete without the ability to use services responsibly.
Youth engagement remains a challenge: in Q1 2024, 14.4% of Nigerian youths aged 15–24 were neither in school, employed, nor in any form of training.
86% of the workforce lacks post-secondary education, and over 100 million young Nigerians do not have basic digital skills, limiting access to opportunities in the digital economy.
The government has previously partnered with the UAE to train seven million youths in digital skills and entrepreneurship.
The programme officially kicked off with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the federal government and the six professional bodies, marking a significant step toward nationwide capacity building in financial literacy and inclusion.
