•Provides benchmark for pricing loans, deposits

By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief 

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, yesterday, launched the Nigerian Overnight Financing Rate (NOFR), to guarantee greater transparency in the financial market.

The NOFR is a daily benchmark interest rate introduced by the CBN in collaboration with the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA).

NOFR reflects the actual, real-time cost of secured, short-term borrowing between financial institutions.

Speaking at the launch in Abuja, Cardoso described the benchmark interest rates as, “The rate at which everyone agrees, represents a true reflection of the price of money at a particular point in time, and it is the backbone of any modern financial system.”

 He said, however, “Before a benchmark can be widely accepted, it must be an output of a trusted, well-governed, and transparent financial market framework with an underlying administrative process and methodology that protects against any form of manipulation.”

 The Governor argued that financial systems, much like economies themselves, cannot remain static, saying, “They must evolve continuously to reflect changing realities, respond to emerging opportunities and create stronger foundations for future growth.”

Recent global developments, Cardoso said, have underscored this need, resulting in financial systems transitioning from judgment-based or indicative rates to transaction-based benchmarks that reflect underlying market realities.

He said, the CBN, in collaboration with the Financial Markets Dealers Association, FMDA, and with technical support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD, developed the NOFR as “a credible and robust benchmark derived from actual market transactions.”

“The NOFR has been designed as a transaction-based overnight secured interbank financing rate, reflecting the true cost of overnight funding in the Nigerian money market by anchoring the benchmark on observable transactions,” he  added.

On the impact of the rate on the market, Mr. Cardoso said, “NOFR enhances market integrity and credibility, it reduces reliance on subjective estimates and it minimizes the risk of manipulation, and finally improves price discovery and transparency.”

He described the rate as, “a fundamental shift that aligns Nigeria with global best practices in benchmark rate reform and strengthens confidence in our financial markets.”

The outcome, he said, would be a deepening of Nigeria’s financial market which the regulators crave. The governor said that NOFR would create a basis for transparent pricing of loans and deposits in the money market.

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•Mandates beneficial ownership disclosure

•Sets 25% threshold, 15% cross-market cap

•Compliance deadline set for Dec. 31, 2026

By Babajide Komolafe

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has directed banks, fintechs and other operators in the payments ecosystem to store all payment transaction data generated in Nigeria within the country, while also introducing measures to curb excessive market dominance in the industry.

The apex bank disclosed this in a circular dated June 15, 2026, titled, “Introduction of Market Structure Requirements, Data Localisation, Ultimate Beneficial Ownership Disclosure, and Systemic Oversight Measures in the Nigeria Payments System.”

According to the CBN, “all financial institutions and participants facilitating payments within Nigeria shall ensure that payments transaction data generated within Nigeria are stored and managed in Nigeria in accordance with data protection laws and regulations applicable in Nigeria.”

The Bank added that “all affected financial institutions shall fully comply with this requirement effective January 1, 2027.”

On ownership transparency, the CBN said: “All Deposit Money Banks, Payment Service Providers and other financial institutions with digital payments footprints shall disclose the Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) of significant shareholders in accordance with applicable extant laws and regulations, including Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Counter Proliferation Financing regulations.”

The apex bank further directed that institutions “shall maintain accurate and up-to-date UBO records and make such information available to the CBN upon request.”

Explaining the rationale for the new measures, the CBN stated: “The Nigerian payments ecosystem has witnessed significant structural developments characterised by rapid growth in electronic payments, increasing adoption of digital financial services and the emergence of operators with substantial market presence across key payment activities.”

It noted, however, that “these developments have also raised concerns relating to market concentration, operational dependence, systemic importance, transparency of ownership structures, and the localisation of critical payment data.”

To address these concerns, the Bank introduced market structure requirements under which “any licensed financial institution engaged in card issuing activities that holds more than 25 per cent market share in card issuing shall not hold more than 15 per cent market share in merchant acquiring activities during the same period.”

Similarly, it stated that “any licensed financial institution engaged in merchant acquiring activities that holds more than 25 per cent market share in merchant acquiring shall not hold more than 15 per cent market share in card issuing activities.”

The CBN directed all regulated entities to submit monthly market share returns and stated that “all affected financial institutions are required to take necessary measures to achieve full compliance not later than December 31, 2026.”

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By Elizabeth Adegbesan

Revenue generated from Value Added Tax, VAT,  and Company Income Tax, CIT,  fell year-on-year (YoY) by 6.2 percent to N3.79 trillion  in the first quarter of 2026 (Q1’26) from N4.04 trillion in Q1’25.

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS,  disclosed this in its report on VAT and CIT for Q1’26 , which showed that the decline in revenue was driven by a 3.08 percent YoY fall in CIT during the  period. 

According to the NBS, CIT fell to N1.37 trillion in Q1’26 from N1.98 trillion in Q1’25. 

However, VAT grew by 19.8 percent YoY to N2.42 trillion YoY from N2.02 trillion in Q1’25. Similarly, VAT increased by 9.98 percent quarter-on-quarter, QoQ  from N2.20 trillion in Q4’25.

The report said: “Of the total VAT collected, local payments stood at N1.11 trillion, Foreign VAT payments were N830.47 billion, while import VAT contributed N477.55 billion during the quarter. 

“In terms of sectoral shares, the activities with the largest shares in Q1 2026 were Manufacturing with 29.75 percent; Information and communication with 20.61 per cent; and Mining and quarrying with 12.32 percent.” 

The NBS  also stated that of the total CIT collected, domestic CIT contributed N538.91 billion, while Foreign CIT payment accounted for N828.82 billion during the quarter. 

“In terms of sectoral shares, the activities with the largest shares in Q1 2026 were Financial and insurance activities with 24.73 percent; Mining and quarrying with 16.06 percent and Manufacturing with 13.82 percent. 

“Conversely, activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use recorded the least share with 0.01 percent, followed by Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies with 0.13 percent; and Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities with 0.38 percent,” it said.

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