The Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Suleiman, says the North-West region has the highest rate of financial exclusion, as 47 per cent lack access to formal and informal financial services.

The minister disclosed this at the launching of a two-day NorthWest Governors’ meeting on Nigeria For Women Project (NFWP) Scale-Up Summit in Katsina.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the summit is ‘Empowering Her: Advancing women’s economic and empowerment through regional collaboration’.

According to her, data from the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA’s) Access to Financial Services in Nigeria (A2F) survey in 2023 had revealed the deeply unsettling reality situation.

Sulaiman said: “This gap among the adults limits women’s ability to build resilience, invest in livelihoods and escape poverty.

“This highlights the severity of the exclusion and reinforce the urgency of scaling gender responsive interventions like the NFWP.”

The minister also said that 32 states were involved in the NFWPSU, which demonstrated widespread political buy-in and unified vision for inclusive national development.

“It also reflects the strength of the federating structure, as women’s empowerment is no longer a peripheral concern but a national priority. “Notably, Katsina and Ekiti States have begun community level implementation while Women Affinity Groups (WAGs) formation is underway,’’ Suleiman said.

She explained that the WAGs were the foundational units for collective savings, livelihoods, and social transformation. Suleiman added: “These groups have already proven to increase household income by up to 30 per cent and reduce dependence on informal credit sources by over 40 percent cent in pilot states.”

The minister further said that the project’s task team was working with the World Bank, with the view to co-optng more states and scale up the implementation in at least eight additional states by the end of July. In his remarks, Governor.

Dikko Radda, said that the project would benefit 33,000 wards from the three local governments of Katsina, Funtua and Daura. He expressed gratitude to the world bank, the ministry, and other stakeholders for organising the summit.