Financial Inclusion as a critical cog for development Pt 1

Depending on the point of departure and orientation of the protagonist therefore, financial inclusion can be a concept, a policy, practice or even strategy. Over the next few instalments, we will unpack this subject from different dimensions, its meaning, components, application and how it is an important cog in economic development. Within this piece we will look at the basics of financial inclusion, the definitions, components as well as the lenses through which it can be viewed.

Going back to history, initial perception of financial inclusion related to the removal of barriers that existed on both the supply side and the demand side of access to financial services. Demand side barriers related to the failure by the users to access financial services while supply side referred to the barriers that emanated from the failure, whether deliberate or structural, by players, mainly financial institutions to provide relevant products and services.