Innovation, Inclusion, Integrity: CBN Maps Future Of Nigerian Fintech
By FIDELUS ZWANSON & TOSI ORE
THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released its first-ever CBN Fintech Report: Shaping the Future of Fintech in Nigeria – Innovation, Inclusion and Integrity, providing a detailed assessment of the country’s fintech ecosystem and a roadmap for its sustainable growth.
The report highlights Nigeria’s emergence as a leading African fintech hub, driven by a mature real-time payments infrastructure, innovative startups, and a rapidly expanding digital financial ecosystem. According to the report, nearly 11 billion transactions were processed through the NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP) platform in 2024, up from five billion in 2022, demonstrating Nigeria’s strong adoption of real-time digital payments.
Developed through nationwide surveys, technical workshops, and fintech roundtables, the report identifies key strengths, emerging opportunities, and persistent challenges in the sector. These include regulatory uncertainty, time-to-market delays for new products, limited access to shared infrastructure, compliance costs, and constraints on cross-border expansion.
To address these gaps, the CBN proposes a strategic direction focused on: enabling innovation within a predictable regulatory environment, expanding financial inclusion through enhanced digital infrastructure, and reinforcing system integrity and international credibility. The report recommends measures to improve regulator-industry engagement, streamline approvals, enhance supervisory capacity, and address capital, data-sharing, and regional interoperability challenges.
An annex in the report provides practical implementation mechanisms, stressing that disciplined execution and inter-institutional coordination are essential for long-term success. The CBN intends the document to serve as a reference point for regulators, financial institutions, fintech operators, infrastructure providers, investors, and development partners, supporting coordinated action and investor confidence.
The release reinforces the CBN’s view of fintech as a complementary pillar to the financial system, promoting inclusion, efficiency, and economic growth alongside traditional banking, while providing clear guidance for industry stakeholders to navigate Nigeria’s evolving digital financial landscape.
