In a major push to bridge financial inequality and boost economic participation, the Kaduna State Government has partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to drive a fresh phase of its financial inclusion campaign.
At the heart of this partnership is a strategic stakeholders’ workshop, which resumed Friday, July 4, 2025, in Zaria. The high-level engagement, hosted at R&K Guest Hotels in GRA Zaria, brought together financial experts, government officials, and development partners to chart a sustainable path for inclusive finance across Kaduna State.
The initiative builds on Governor Uba Sani’s landmark Financial Inclusion Executive Order signed on July 25, 2023, which opened the door for over two million unbanked residents—many of them women and rural dwellers—to gain access to formal banking services.
Presiding over the workshop, the Commissioner for Finance, Hon. Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed, underscored the administration’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that no resident is left behind in the ongoing economic reforms.
“Financial inclusion is not just a policy goal; it’s a human right and a development necessity,” Tanko stated. “Kaduna is determined to lead by example in creating systems that work for everyone, especially the underserved.”
The workshop aims to identify critical barriers preventing full-scale access to financial services and to design practical, tech-driven solutions to close those gaps. Discussions focused heavily on inclusion for women, informal sector workers, and rural communities, with stakeholders from both public and private sectors sharing insights and commitments.
Participants included representatives from commercial banks, fintech startups, community leaders, digital identity providers, and donor agencies—all working together to align Kaduna’s inclusion strategy with global best practices and digital transformation goals.
According to organizers, the outcomes of the workshop will feed directly into the state’s financial inclusion roadmap, with a strong focus on accessibility, affordability, and digital innovation.