As part of the innovative products from our projects, the BIL developed and launched the first Behavioural Insights for Anti-corruption learning management system in Nigeria in 2024. The LMS provides real-time online learning on 4 modules and 50 videos, ranging from behavioural insights fundamentals, understanding corruption, transparency and accountability, monitoring and evaluation for behavioural change and ethics and integrity. You can access this course at https://www.binigeria.com/

In January 2023, the BIL conducted a Randomized Control Study titled ’Addressing Voter Apathy and Vote Selling Behaviour in the 2023 Elections in Lagos and Nassarawa States’. The objective of the RCT was to determine the social and contextual drivers of voter apathy and vote selling in selected states of Nigeria, Additionally, the RCT was to determine the extent to which behavioural change interventions (specialized outreaches, text messaging) could reduce voter apathy and vote selling among targeted community members.

Through the BiNTA fellowship, the BIL supports young change-makers to develop behavioural insights skills and apply this to solve a menacing corruption problem in their communities. Through rigorous training, coaching, mentoring and financial support, we handhold 30 Fellows to design and implement innovative interventions across Nigeria annually. Upon graduation, they become members of Behavioural Insights Network(BIN)-  our community of practice on Behavioural Insights in Nigeria.

The BIL is supporting the Inclusion for All project to design and implement a behavioural change strategy to shift social norms and remove biases limiting ownership of digital identity and adoption of digital financial services among rural women farmer groups in Edo State. The BIL conducted behavioural diagnostics to identify the social norms and conducted design-thinking and co-creation workshops to design social interventions that will enable ownership of the National Identification Number and adoption of Digital Financial Services. This strategy will identify the behavioural change communication approaches that educate and correct the misconceptions, norms, and biases of targeted women about national identity and the adoption of digital financial services. The strategy will test appropriate messaging techniques, using randomized control experiments and A/B techniques targeted at different demographics of the women farmers and their reference groups.

The BIL supported the Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Financial Services (SIDFS) initiative at the Lagos Business School (LBS) to design and develop a programme module that embeds behavioural methods (behavioural economics and psychology processes) into the prototype stage (with some insights on the application to the preparation stage) of their DFS product Innovation Laboratory. The aim was to facilitate the delivery of financial products that meet consumer needs and address the financial inclusion goals of the FSPs.

The BIL used innovative approaches and a gender lens to lead the design of a country-wide integrated strategy to increase demand and utilization of products and services in the health and agriculture sectors of Nigeria. This strategy was designed to promote seeking behaviour, uptake, and utilization of health and agricultural products and services, with a special deep-dive on gender considerations. The strategy guides demand-related investment by the donor partner and their grantee organizations working across these sectors.

• The BIL supported players in the women’s health advocacy eco-system in Nigeria to diagnose the challenges with the current approaches to joint advocacy in Nigeria, review different approaches and models to joint advocacy, critically analyze the models, and co-design a locally and contextually viable typology for Nigeria. The outcome of this is an adaptation of 2 co-created prototypes into a hybrid model for joint advocacy in Nigeria.
• Exploring the Roles of Traditional and Religious Leaders in Gender-Based Violence

The PIC supported the growth of an enabling regulatory condition for inclusive digital transformation at the national level and sub-national level in five states (Lagos, Jigawa, Kano, Edo and Kaduna states) by strengthening the capacity of sector stakeholders, domesticating the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy 2020-2030 at the state level and providing technical support for operationalizing the roadmap.

The PIC conducted extensive policy analysis to identify gaps and opportunities for digital inclusion, engaged 331 public and private sector stakeholders within the digital ecosystem, conducted seven policy dialogues in five states and Abuja, hosted two design/co-creation workshops with stakeholders at the national level to co-create digital cooperation for an enabling policy environment. Using an intersectional approach, the trainings and engagements prioritized women, persons with disability and marginalized groups.

We worked with State Governors for policy domestication at the state level and Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy to champion private and public sector partnerships stakeholders in Nigeria.

Using a human centered design approach and working with government stakeholders, citizens, public and private sector partners, persons with disability, small holder women farmers, MSMEs; the PIC provided technical support to the Edo state government in developing a harmonized digital policy and is implementing a post policy advocacy project to facilitate systems change in the digital ecosystem in the state. Our approach ensured that there were consultations at all levels, we are utilizing storytelling and policy demonstration projects as well as pictorials to communicate the policy to citizens.

The PIC is co-implementing the Policy Support for Economic Growth (PSEG) project in partnership with Michigan State University, USA. The PSEG is designed to improve the enabling environment for inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led economic growth by enhancing the capacity of the Government of Nigeria (GoN), the Private Sector, and Civil Society Organizations in evidence-based policy formulation, implementation, research, and advocacy. To achieve this, the initiative focused on three key objectives:

• Policy Formulation and Implementation

Enhancing the policy process to support evidence-based decision-making on food security and inclusive agriculture-led economic growth.

• Policy Research

Expanding access to rigorous policy analysis, particularly in areas such as women’s agricultural productivity, to inform evidence-based policymaking

• Policy Advocacy

Amplifying the voices of private sector actors, civil society, private associations, academia, and media in shaping public policy. PSEG will also support the policy efforts of other activities designed to operationalize the Feed the Future 2023-2028 Nigeria Country Plan and will support the policy agenda of the Government of Nigeria in collaboration with other development partners.

At the PIC, our social norms-related projects ensure that policies are both evidence-based and contextually relevant. One such initiative is the Social Norms Intersectionality Project, which explored how identity-based norms—specifically gender and faith norms—intersect with broader social norms that drive corrupt practices in Nigeria’s health sector.

Through rigorous research, the project examined how behaviours are shaped by normative and empirical expectations, reference groups, and social sanctions (rewards and punishments). These insights informed culturally appropriate and effective policy recommendations, highlighting how norm-change programming can integrate intersectionality for greater impact.

Beyond research, our work in social norms extends to intervention design, monitoring, and cross-sectoral engagement. Findings from social norms research also contribute to policy monitoring and evaluation, refining programs and scaling successful initiatives.

At the PIC, social norms provide the why—deep insights into human behaviour—while the Policy Unit delivers the how—practical pathways for policy implementation and systemic change.

This research project commenced in 2023 with funds from BMGF. The study is aimed at assessing the context and predictors of digital readiness in Edo State and providing insights into programmatic interventions that can reduce barriers, accelerate digital adoption, and deliver socioeconomic benefits to the government and the people. The project collected data from over 2,800 at baseline and 1,600 participants at endline.

It conducted multi-level, multi-stakeholder engagement to ensure that evidence from the baseline was used to design interventions that improved digital solutions and inclusivity in Edo state.