Financial Inclusion as an Effective Policy Tool of Poverty Alleviation: A Case of Ekiti State

This study examined the financial inclusion as an effective policy tool of poverty alleviation in Ekiti state from 1980 and 2015. Random sampling technique was employed to sample 180 adult households across the three senatorial districts of the state. The data used for the study were obtained with the use of well structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logit were used to empirically analyze the results. Findings from the study revealed that -poverty rate was higher among women. Women accounted for about 58% of the poor while men accounted for 42%. The study discovered that the numbers of commercial banks across the three senatorial districts of the state were extremely low. The available ones were only concentrated in state Headquarters, (Ado-Ekiti). The study equally found that the size of financially excluded population Ekiti state was high (45%). That shows that financially included population in Ekiti state was basically among civil servants and few business men during the study period. The study found that the following factors were major determinants of poverty and financial inclusion in Ekiti State during the study period. The factors are; employment, marital status, educational level, religion, financial discipline, use of banks products and services, distance, household size, access to political contract, gender, income level and age. Based on these findings, it is recommended that more commercial bank branches and cash centres should be opened across the three senatorial districts of the state. More bank products and services should be introduced such as grants, overdraft and special funds that can easily be accessible by customers.