Digital Financial Inclusion and Innovation among Informal Food Vendors in Lagos, Nigeria: Bridging the Digital Gap
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Date
2025-11-07
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Abstract
Despite the transformation of various economies locally and globally through leveraging on digital financial
services, yet the informal sector remains an under-explored frontier in the digital financial inclusion (DFI)
landscape. This study examined the impact of digital financial inclusion among informal food vendors in
Lagos, Nigeria. Additionally, it investigates how this economically vital yet marginalized group is adopting
and experiencing digital financial services amid systemic inequalities, assessed their digital financial status,
and identified key constraints to digital financial inclusion. Using mixed-methods such as Descriptive
statistics, Likert type scale and Multidimensional financial inclusion index (MFII), the research sampled 123
informal food vendors with the aid of a Kobo toolbox questionnaire. Findings revealed that 97.56% were
female food vendors with 61.79% engaging in street food vending. Furthermore, the study revealed that
96.75% of food vendors are aware of digital financial services and 91.87% have access to the internet. Also,
99.19% and 91.87% of the respondents reported that the use of mobile banking and mobile money
transfer are the most used digital financial services. The MFII index score of 0.6711 reveals that 61.79% of
vendors are digitally included, driven primarily by financial capability and literacy. Major constraints to
digital financial inclusion among informal food vendors include security concerns and also limited trust in
the digital financial services platform. The study recommends that stakeholders should invest in improving
internet infrastructure and accessibility, particularly in areas where vendors operate and that stakeholders
should design a digital financial service with a focus on user-friendliness, simplicity and privacy.
Keywords: Digital Financial Inclusion, Informal Food Vendor, Digital Financial Services
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Fayemi A.O., Osasona K. K., Salami M. F., Belewu K. Y. and Marcus E. E.