Financial Inclusion and Economic Growth in Nigeria: Evidence from SME Lending and Rural Bank Branch Activities (2010–2023)

Financial inclusion has become of global interest as a significant growth driver for inclusive development’s sake in the world, more specifically in emerging economies such as Nigeria. The paper analyses the implications of financial inclusion to growth in Nigeria, with emphasis on the role of small savings and small loans extended on the deposit money bank’s, small and medium enterprises(SMEs), and through rural bank branches. With an ex post facto design, annual time series data was collected from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) from 2010-2023. Data were analyzed by Simple Linear Regression and Pearson Correlation with SPSS version 20.0. The findings show that there is a strong and positive significant relationship between DMB loans to SMEs and the GDP and that between rural banking operations and Nigeria's external reserves. They indicate the relevance of a targeted financial policy in the improvement of macroeconomic aggregates. The research suggests that Central Bank of Nigeria should increase financial inclusion among the excluded rural population towards accessible loans without collateral and enhanced SME credit schemes to enhance inclusive growth.