According to him, “a consumer credit system, if properly established, operated, managed and sustained will contribute immensely to the production dynamics and the GDP growth of Nigeria. A consumer credit system will enhance the purchasing power of the people thereby alleviating poverty by enabling Nigerians especially the poor to live on credit subject to the limits of their individual circumstances.”
Smith noted that the benefits of a consumer credit system are not only at the heart of Nigeria’s people empowerment strategy as embodied in the NEEDS programme but would also go a long way towards ensuring that Federal Government meets the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target date of 2015.
In a related interview, Mrs Remi Abere, Project Coordinator of Credit Awareness Nigeria, stated that a strong consumer credit culture will raise national productivity, increase employment, provide an added dimension to our education ethos as well as improve infrastructure, alleviate poverty and create wealth and prosperity for our people.
Describing the CBN guidelines as a step in the right direction, Abere advised that a strong credit system can only be achieved if there is a proper coordination of efforts by all stakeholders, a vision that the recently inaugurated project, Credit Awareness Nigeria, is pursuing vigorously.
Credit Awareness Nigeria is a new initiative geared towards promoting a national credit system by building capacity by the Financial Literacy. This will ultimately improve the well-being of the underserved in the nation.
The objectives of Credit Awareness Nigeria include:

• The creation of an enabling environment for a sustainable credit bureau industry.

• The creation of a society where 70-90% of the population have access to formal financial services.

• Providing a better understanding to the existing consumer credit framework

• Increase of the current level of financial literacy in Nigeria

• Raising awareness about the creation of an enabling and regulatory environment for credit reporting and relevance to credit bureau to the development of the economy