Who We are

Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) is a Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) organisation that promotes inclusive finance in Nigeria. The FSD Network is a family of nine Financial Sector Deepening, or FSD, programmes operating across Africa,.

EFInA was established with support from the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) in 2007 and began receiving funding support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2009.

EFInA is renowned, within Nigeria’s financial sector, for providing thought leadership toward achieving financial inclusion and championing the unbanked. By funding and catalysing innovation, providing cutting-edge research, advocating for inclusive policies, and building capacity, EFInA has gained a reputation as an “honest broker” among the private and public sectors in Nigeria. EFInA’s Access to Financial Services in Nigeria surveys and other research have served as credible sources of information for policymakers and regulators, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), the National Pension Commission and others, to formulate regulations and policies. EFInA has a strong focus on promoting digital financial services, and in recent years has taken a leading role in supporting an emerging FinTech sector in Nigeria.

Since its founding, EFInA has contributed to the increased focus on financial inclusion in Nigeria, convening and supporting stakeholders to develop and work toward the implementation of a National Financial Inclusion Strategy.

ABOUT THE FSD NETWORK
This FSD Network has a strong footprint. It has 9 offices in 8 countries across sub-Saharan Africa in Nigeria, Kenya Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Rwanda and Mozambique, and a staff of over 250 financial sector experts. Together, the network invests over £50m a year in high-potential programmes.

Since 2002, when the first FSD programme was created and funded by the UK government’s Foreign Commonwealth Development & Development Office (FCDO), the FSD Network has attracted funding from a number of sources, including the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Mastercard Foundation and US Aid. However, FCDO remains the largest funding partner across the FSD Network.

As the FSD Network’s regional programme, FSD Africa works to strengthen the impact of individual FSDs and the network as a whole. We regularly convene the FSD Network community, providing capacity-building support, and proactively fostering opportunities for collaboration on pioneering new work streams across the network.

FSDs work alongside governments, business leaders, non-profit organizations, research institutions, regulators, and policymakers to develop more inclusive financial systems. We believe that financial systems have the potential to play a major role in enabling inclusive growth and ensuring access to basic services while assuring a sustainable future.

Guided by the imperatives of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the FSD Network seeks to mould sustainable financial systems in a way which works better for the poor across Africa. We are deeply committed to equity between men and women and supporting the vulnerable and marginalised.