Financial Inclusion: Innovecrives Appoints FIWON as Agent

Innovectives has appointed the Federation of Informal Workers of Nigeria (FIWON) as an agent for the purposes of rendering approved services to the customers of financial institutions within their defined area.

With this transaction, FIWON would on behalf of Innovectives, engage in customer sourcing, customer transactions and marketing of financial products to its 65 million members and the public.
 
FIWON is the umbrella body to over 65 million working people in the country.

The informal economy are made up of self-employed workers, contributing family members and those moving from one form of jobs or location to another.
 
Innovectives, an integrated fintech company, is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] as a Super-Agent to provide agent-banking services to customers of deposit money banks and mobile money operators in Nigeria.
 
Launched in 2010 in Abuja, FIWON is a coalition of over 200 organizations of informal workers drawn from 21 states of the federation.

It has evolved as a common platform based on shared problems and aspirations of millions of working people, providing an important democratic space on the basis of which private, public, social sector partnerships could be forged to address urgent human and development problems that affect majority of working Nigerians especially in the informal economy.
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According to figures from the statistics office, workers in the informal sectors of the economy constitute over 80% of the non-agricultural employment.

While 60% of urban employment and over 90% of new jobs make up an estimated population of over 65 million working people, these are absent from decision-making processes, and are largely subject to policy inconsistency and arbitrariness.
 
At the contract signing ceremony, Emmanuel Agha, MD/CEO, Innovectives, said the company’s financial inclusion strategy would ensure that all categories of informal workers in Nigeria have affordable access to financial services through this agent network run by their members.
 
“Our suite of services will address critical social challenges of informal workers such as, saving culture, access to credit, wage payment, health insurance, informal pension, dues payment and collection, thrift and credit; and conventional financial services such as funds transfer, withdrawals, deposits, purchase of goods and services, bills payment and airtime top-up.”
 
Comrade Gbenga Komolafe, ‎secretary general, FIWON, who signed the contract on behalf of the body expressed understanding of the financial inclusion, and that it has become one of the highest policy priorities in the world of finance, as it is important for Africa because a large swathe of economic actors remains outside the formal economy.
 
He said the body would work closely with Innovectives to drive a policy of inclusiveness and empowerment of its members with access to critical financial services such as credit facilities and health insurance scheme. ‎