The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released its first comprehensive Fintech Report, openly acknowledging that regulatory bottlenecks, high compliance costs, and slow approval processes are holding back innovation in Nigeria’s fast-growing digital finance sector.
Titled CBN Fintech Report: Shaping the Future of Fintech in Nigeria – Innovation, Inclusion and Integrity, the report provides the most detailed assessment yet of the country’s fintech ecosystem and sets out a roadmap to unlock its next phase of growth while preserving financial stability and consumer protection.
In a rare admission, the apex bank said regulatory processes have not kept pace with the speed and complexity of fintech innovation, creating friction for operators in an increasingly systemically important sector.
Findings from a nationwide fintech survey show:
- 87.5 per cent of operators say compliance costs significantly limit innovation
- Over 60 per cent report regulatory delays in launching new products
- More than one-third say it takes over a year to bring products to market, due largely to licensing and approval hurdles
The CBN warned that these challenges risk slowing Nigeria’s fintech momentum at a critical time.
Despite the challenges, the report reaffirmed fintech as a strategic pillar of Nigeria’s financial system, complementing traditional banking by expanding financial inclusion, improving efficiency, and supporting long-term economic growth, especially for underserved and unbanked populations.
Placing Nigeria in a global context, the report highlighted the country’s leadership in real-time payments. Data from NIBSS shows that nearly 11 billion transactions were processed via the NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP) platform in 2024, up from 5 billion in 2022, placing Nigeria among the world’s leading adopters of instant payments.
The report found fintech operators split evenly on regulation: 50 per cent describe it as enabling, while the other half see it as restrictive. The CBN linked this divide to unclear guidance, fragmented oversight, and inconsistent rule enforcement across agencies.
To reduce friction while strengthening oversight, the CBN outlined key reforms, including:
- A CBN–Fintech Engagement Platform for structured dialogue
- A Single Regulatory Window to harmonise multi-agency approvals
- Use of Supervisory Technology (SupTech) to shorten approval timelines
- Shared compliance utilities, including compliance-as-a-service, to ease costs for smaller firms
The apex bank also signalled plans to fast-track open banking, expand access to affordable digital identity infrastructure, and improve interoperability across payment and credit systems.
With over 60% of fintechs planning regional expansion, the report proposed exploring regulatory passporting with other African regulators to ease cross-border operations.
The CBN described the report as a candid assessment and a practical reform guide, stressing that Nigeria’s biggest challenge is moving from innovation to effective execution.
According to the bank, clearer rules, faster approvals, and stronger trust between regulators and innovators are now critical to cementing Nigeria’s position as a regional and global fintech hub.
