Cooperative Bank as an Effective Financial Inclusion Strategy in Nigeria

Abstract

Cooperative banking is now a global phenomenon but going through the history of banking in Nigeria there is nothing to show that Nigeria had actually established any cooperative bank. There were the defunct Nigerian cooperative and Commerce bank, or Cooperative Bank Plc, Nigerian Agricultural and Cooperative bank etc. They were never cooperative banks in the true sense, they all operated Commercial banks or at best as micro finance or primary mortgage institutions. This paper unfolded the enormity of the impact cooperative bank can have on the economy by promoting financial inclusion. The paper is concluded on the note that to reduce poverty, ensure food security and create jobs, cooperative banking based on cooperative principles is imperative in Nigeria. The paper is divided into five parts. Part one discussed the definition of financial inclusion, cooperative and cooperative bank, while part two traced the history of cooperative banking in Nigeria. Part three discussed cooperative banking in Europe, Asia and Africa, part four distinguished between cooperative bank and commercial bank and types of cooperative banks while part five discussed the possibility of establishing cooperative bank in Nigeria and the modus operandi of establishing the bank

Keywords: Cooperative banking, financial inclusion, micro finance, mortgage institutions.