CBN to fast-track open banking rules, eyes passporting deals in Africa

Nigeria’s central bank said it will fast-track the implementation of open banking rules and pursue regulatory passporting agreements with other African countries, as it seeks to remove technical bottlenecks holding back fintech growth and support regional expansion by local firms.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disclosed the plans in its newly released Fintech Report 2025, which said an implementation roadmap for open banking would be issued within three months.

Open banking allows banks and licensed third-party providers to securely share customer data through application programming interfaces (APIs), enabling new digital products, improved competition and easier access to financial services. Nigeria introduced an open banking framework in 2021 and issued operational guidelines in 2023, but adoption has been slowed by unresolved technical gaps.

Read also: Inside CBN’s ambition to shape the future of global digital finance

The CBN said it is now prioritising the rollout of technical standards, governance structures and dispute-resolution mechanisms to enable full implementation, alongside consumer awareness and financial education initiatives aimed at building trust.

The fast-track push comes as demand for open banking infrastructure grows within the industry. According to an ecosystem survey cited in the report, 25 percent of fintech executives identified open banking APIs as the single most critical digital infrastructure for their future growth.

In parallel, the central bank said it is developing a Regulatory Passporting Programme to support the increasing cross-border ambitions of Nigerian fintech firms. The report noted that 62.5 percent of Nigerian fintech companies are planning regional expansion, prompting the regulator to seek mutual licence recognition arrangements with peer authorities.

The CBN said it plans to initiate bilateral consultations with regulators in Ghana, Kenya and Senegal, with the aim of reducing duplicative compliance requirements and easing market entry for Nigerian firms operating across Africa.

As part of its phased reform agenda, the central bank said immediate actions over the next three months include establishing a CBN-led fintech engagement forum, issuing the open banking implementation roadmap, and beginning technical scoping for a single regulatory window and a smart licensing gateway.

Near-term reforms expected within nine months include launching a new regulatory sandbox focused on artificial intelligence and regulatory technology use cases, issuing guidance on data portability and consumer protection under open finance, and operationalising a fintech credit guarantee window in collaboration with development finance institutions.

The CBN is also reviewing its approach to inclusive credit delivery. Rather than expanding the lending mandates of payment service banks, the regulator said it is shifting its focus toward authorising dedicated digital banking licences as a more scalable pathway to serve underserved populations while maintaining risk oversight.

Read also: CBN sets new direction for Nigeria’s fintech growth with sector review

The report highlighted the growing role of artificial intelligence in protecting Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem, noting that 87.5 percent of fintech firms currently use AI primarily for fraud detection, reflecting persistent concerns around digital financial crime.

Globally, open banking has increasingly been used by regulators as a competition and consumer-protection tool. In the European Union, mandatory data-sharing under the Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) has reshaped payments and account aggregation across member states, while Brazil’s central bank-led open finance regime has gone further by integrating payments, credit and data portability under a single governance structure.

The CBN said its phased approach seeks to align Nigeria with these international models while adapting them to local market conditions, as it moves to embed supervisory technology tools, formalise a fintech advisory council and deepen engagement with ECOWAS and African Union regulatory forums to help shape continental standards.