Author: user user

About $50million spent annually by financial institutions and digital infrastructure providers to host their data offshore will be saved if data localisation policy takes effect next year, the Federal Government has said.

This is coming amidst implementation hurdles faced by financial institutions as the January 1, 2027 deadline approaches.

The Central Bank of Nigeria had in June this year issued a sweeping directive requiring all payment and financial transaction data generated within the country to be processed and stored locally by January 2027.

Daily Trust reports that for over a decade, Nigerian financial institutions built their digital platforms atop international hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.

What this means is that financial service providers including fintechs would abandon their reliance on global digital cloud platforms for available local data centres.

The development has created anxiety among operators amidst call for deadline extension.

But yesterday, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, speaking at the Executive Regulatory Dialogue on National Sovereign Cloud Initiative (NSCI) Implementation and Data Localisation in Lagos on Wednesday disclosed that more than 85% of Nigeria’s information technology workload is currently hosted on public cloud infrastructure outside the country.

He spoke just as a new report by PWC indicated that the data localisation rule could reshape competition among financial institution operators.

Figures cited by NITDA showed that Nigeria’s 10 largest banks spent about N177.91billion on information technology in the first quarter of 2026 alone, representing a 31 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year.

A sizeable portion of the investment currently supports cloud infrastructure hosted outside Nigeria, a trend the new policy is expected to address by encouraging greater utilisation of local infrastructure.

The new framework is aimed at improving confidence in Nigeria’s digital infrastructure while promoting local capacity and enhancing oversight of critical national data.

But with January 2027 deadline approaching, yesterday’s dialogue organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NITDA in Lagos had stakeholders across financial and financial technology sectors discussing issues around the successful implementation of policy by the two regulators.

Abdullahi in an interview with newsmen said NITDA and the CBN had engaged financial institutions several times ahead of the January 2027 deadline.

The NITDA DG said Nigeria wants global hyperscalers and local data centre operators to expand infrastructure in Nigeria and help establish the country as a regional cloud hub.

‘We want to be able to control our digital future. We want to be digitally independent,’ Abdullah said.

The first phase is focused on the financial sector, which Abdullah described as Nigeria’s most digitalised industry.

The initiative comes as Nigerian banks face growing cybersecurity and operational risks, including the potential loss of access to critical services during infrastructure disruptions.

The NITDA DG said technology resilience is increasingly important for protecting financial institutions’ capital, particularly as cyber fraud and other digitally enabled incidents become more prevalent.

The framework is based on a classification of data rather than a blanket requirement that all Nigerian data remain inside the country.

NITDA is identifying categories it considers sovereign, including defense information, national security data, financial records and citizens’ health information.

‘We are not locking our doors and we are not saying all Nigerian data must stay in Nigeria,’ Inuwa said. ‘We are saying we have different classes of data.’

Under the approach outlined by NITDA, sovereign data would need to be hosted domestically, while other types of information could continue to use international infrastructure where permitted. The goal is to protect sensitive information without preventing Nigerian companies from accessing global technology platforms.

Although Nigeria has local data center operators, many businesses continue to use global hyperscalers because of their scale, reliability and range of services.

Abdullahi said Nigeria’s connectivity and role as a transit point for neighbouring countries could allow it to host data and provide computing services for landlocked markets across the region.

‘The intention is to achieve both our sovereign control and positioning Nigeria as a hub,’ he said.

He said NITDA plans to extend the framework beyond financial services once the first phase is completed.

PWC in its report titled, ‘CBN Data Localisation and Market Structure Rules’, the PwC said the Central Bank of Nigeria’s new rules on data localisation and market structure could reshape how payment operators compete, manage data and invest in technology.

The rules apply to deposit money banks, microfinance banks, mobile money operators, switching and processing companies, payment terminal service providers, payment solution service providers, super agents and other licensed operators in Nigeria’s payments ecosystem.

Under the market structure requirements, PwC says an operator with more than 25% of card issuing must limit its share of merchant acquiring to 15%.

The same restriction applies in reverse to an operator with more than 25% of merchant acquiring.

Why the new CBN rules matter

It said meeting the requirements may involve more than changes to regulatory reporting and data storage. Institutions may need to reconsider where they compete, whether their current business models remain viable and how their technology environments must change.

The report says the market share limits could affect integrated issuing and acquiring models, scale advantages and competitive positioning.

It adds that data localisation could have implications for cloud infrastructure, disaster recovery, analytics, AI platforms, third-party providers and long-term technology investments. Restructuring and implementation decisions may also create tax considerations and influence how investors assess opportunities in Nigeria’s payments sector.

Connecting compliance with wider business decisions

The report also brings the regulatory, strategic and technology implications together. It examines the questions institutions should address before restructuring their operations, migrating payment data or committing to significant infrastructure investments.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has handed over 69 bags of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further investigation and possible prosecution.

The FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Mohammed Sanusi, disclosed this on Wednesday while formally handing over the seized exhibits at the command headquarters in Abuja.

He said the bags were recovered during coordinated operations conducted by the command’s Anti-Narcotics Unit as part of efforts to combat drug trafficking and related offences in the territory.

Sanusi said the exhibits had remained in police custody while investigations were conducted, adding that they were handed over to the NDLEA following the completion of the necessary investigative processes.

He said the handover demonstrated inter-agency collaboration in tackling drug-related crimes and reaffirmed the command’s commitment to intelligence sharing and cooperation with other security agencies to dismantle criminal networks.

The commissioner urged residents to provide credible and timely information to the police and other relevant agencies to support efforts to combat drug trafficking and other criminal activities.

He assured residents that the command would continue to work with sister security agencies to improve security in the FCT and tackle the harmful effects of illicit drugs.

Managing Director of J.P. Morgan West Africa, Dapo Olagunju said the financial institution was influenced to set up a bank in Nigeria by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s reforms as well as the United States’ decision to deepen its presence in Nigeria.

He spoke during a panel discussion tagged: ‘Innovation, Investment and the Next Decade of Partnerships,’ to Nigeria at the 32nd Nigerian economic summit in Abuja which was sponsored by IHS.

‘J.P. Morgan coming in at this time also signifies that the impact of the reform that has been put in place in the last three or four years is almost at the same level’ as a previous major shift in Nigeria’s political and economic environment, he said.

Olagunju’s comment is coming on the heels of the bank’s moves to establish a merchant banking business in Nigeria, following approval-in-principle from the CBN on October 23.

Also speaking, Gbenga Adebayo, chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), said operators needed more investment to expand network capacity, build fibre-optic infrastructure, and replace ageing equipment.

Adebayo also called for consistent government policies and stronger protection of telecoms infrastructure, citing damage to fibre-optic cables during road construction and other activities.

He said investment is needed to extend reliable connectivity beyond major urban centres and close coverage and access gaps.

Adebayo said the sector would require more skilled workers as demand for digital services grows and businesses adopt artificial intelligence.

He said: ‘IHS is a very strong member of ALTON and the plenary has looked at investment opportunities in our sector and we have had discussion around the impact, the social economic impact we have had and we are having.

‘Today we have spoken about the investment opportunities in our sector, where we need to do a lot more in terms of fibre optic cable. We have to do a lot more in terms of building more sites, we have to do a lot more in terms of bringing capacity to improve the quality of our networks, and also as we prepare ourselves for the next frontier, which is artificial intelligence,’ he added

Also, Afolabi Salisu, chairman of the senate committee on ICT and cybersecurity, said the national digital economy and e-government bill has reached its third reading and could be passed before the end of the year.

The Senate has urged the Federal Government and security agencies to deploy more troops and establish security outposts along the borders of Taraba, Plateau and Bauchi states following a bandit attack that reportedly killed about 80 people in Taraba State.

The attack targeted Binari community in Karim-Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State, killing dozens of residents, displacing hundreds and destroying property.

The resolution followed a motion by the senator representing Taraba North, Isa Shuaibu Lau, who raised the alarm over the rising violence and humanitarian crisis in his constituency.

Lau said the vulnerability of communities along the borders of Taraba, Plateau and Bauchi states had created routes that armed groups used to carry out attacks.

He said the government had a constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property, warning that failure to take decisive action could lead to more killings, economic losses and displacement in the affected areas.

The Senate Chief Whip, Mohammed Tahir Monguno (Borno North), said protecting lives and property was the primary responsibility of government.

He commended Lau for drawing the attention of the National Assembly to the security challenges in the area.

After deliberations, the Senate unanimously urged security agencies to deploy additional personnel and establish permanent security outposts along the vulnerable borders of Taraba, Plateau and Bauchi states.

The lawmakers also directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the North East Development Commission (NEDC) to provide relief materials and medical assistance to survivors displaced from Binari and neighbouring communities.

The Senate observed a one-minute silence in honour of those killed in the attack.

FirstBank of Nigeria Limited has partnered with technology retailer Pointek to expand access to smartphones, laptops, tablets and other essential electronic devices through its FirstEase Buy-Now-Pay-Later digital lending solution.

The partnership enables eligible customers to purchase products from Pointek outlets and spread payments over flexible repayment periods of up to 180 days.

Under the arrangement, customers can access the FirstEase solution through FirstBank’s FirstMobile and LIT applications, with the initiative designed to make essential gadgets more affordable for salary earners, professionals, entrepreneurs and other eligible customers.

Speaking at the partnership announcement in Lagos on Wednesday, FirstBank’s Group Head, e-Business and Retail Products, Abednego Ugwueke, said the collaboration was aimed at addressing the financial challenges customers face when purchasing electronic devices.

He explained that many people require smartphones and other gadgets with improved storage capacity, memory and functionality for their work and daily activities but may struggle to pay the full cost upfront.

According to him, FirstEase allows customers to acquire the products they need immediately while spreading payments over an agreed period.

Ugwueke said the partnership would make the lending solution more accessible by integrating it into customers’ shopping experience.

He added that the initiative reflected FirstBank’s commitment to innovation, financial inclusion and responsible access to financial services.

‘Our objective is to help customers access products they need in a responsible and sustainable manner,’ he said, adding that customers would receive transparent information about eligibility requirements and repayment terms to enable informed decisions.

Also speaking, FirstBank’s Head of Personal Banking, Chukwuka Okonkwo, said the partnership built on the bank’s experience in digital lending and its investment in platforms designed to simplify access to credit.

He said the solution was developed to provide a seamless digital lending experience, with access available through the bank’s mobile applications and Pointek’s online platform.

Okonkwo explained that the service was initially being tested among salaried customers, with plans to expand its reach as the initiative develops.

He said the arrangement would allow eligible customers to obtain products when needed and repay at their convenience, subject to the applicable terms.

The bank said the initiative complemented its broader efforts to use digital technology to improve access to financial services and provide customers with more flexible payment options.

Director of Business at Pointek, Dr Godwin Ajala, said access to mobile devices had become increasingly important because of their role in education, employment, entrepreneurship and everyday communication.

He noted that smartphones had evolved beyond communication tools to become essential instruments for acquiring skills, discovering employment opportunities and connecting people to economic activities.

However, he said affordability remained a barrier for many Nigerians seeking to own suitable devices.

Ajala said the partnership would help address this challenge by combining Pointek’s access to technology products with FirstBank’s financing capabilities.

He explained that Pointek’s role extended beyond selling electronic devices to connecting Nigerians with tools that could support their personal and professional development.

According to him, the initiative’s broader value lies in the opportunities that access to technology can create, particularly for individuals and businesses seeking to expand their economic activities.