Impact of Financial Inclusion on Wealth Creation in Nigeria

This study examines the relationship between financial inclusion and wealth creation in Nigeria, using bank account ownership, mobile money usage, and financial knowledge as indicators of financial inclusion and real gross domestic product (GDP) as a macroeconomic proxy for wealth creation. It uses reported quarterly time-series data from 2012Q1 to 2024Q4 and an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. The reported long-run coefficients are positive and statistically significant for all three indicators. In the short run, bank account ownership and financial knowledge are significant at the 5% level; mobile money usage is positive but significant only at the 10% level (p = 0.051). The negative error correction coefficient indicates that approximately 62.15% of deviations from the estimated long-run relationship are corrected within one quarter. These findings suggest an association between financial inclusion and aggregate economic activity, but do not establish causal effects or directly measure household wealth. Policies that expand banking access, improve digital financial services, and strengthen financial literacy may support inclusive economic development.