IFC Agent Banking in Nigeria - Increased Reach, Client Diversity

Nigeria’s Lift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO) and IFC have a longstanding relationship that began in 2012. To help serve unbanked people and those with limited or no access to financial services, in 2017 with IFC's partnership, LAPO piloted an agent-banking network to expand its client reach.

To understand the effectiveness of the network, IFC conducted a series of surveys in pilot locations. Through the surveys, we found evidence of the following:

Strong service uptake

Increased penetration in underserved areas

Improved accessibility of the bank’s services

The agent banking network is expected to remain the primary mechanism for driving LAPO’s expansion.