•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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By Progress Godfrey

The Federal Government has said Nigeria’s Digital Alphanumeric Postcode System, scheduled for launch this year, will transform commerce, strengthen security and significantly reduce delivery costs nationwide.

Speaking at the National Digital Alphanumeric Postcode System workshop in Abuja, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, described the initiative as critical national infrastructure designed to address Nigeria’s long-standing challenge of poor addressing systems.

He stated: “You can’t really get many things done without a digital postcode system, and this determines whether crimes are solved at the right time, where threats are contained, and whether people’s lives are saved or not.

“What we’re here to introduce is not just a policy. For us at the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, this is foundational and core to what we’re building.”

According to him, every building in Nigeria will be assigned a unique alphanumeric code to enable precise location identification, improve service delivery and support the country’s digital transformation agenda.

Also speaking, Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Postal Service, NIPOST, Tola Odeyemi, said the system would help tackle huge losses arising from inaccurate addresses while ensuring data privacy.

“Right now, in Nigeria, the cost of misdeliveries is anywhere from N50 billion to N80 billion because people are just running around not knowing where to deliver,” she said.

Odeyemi added that the digital postcode system would improve routing, delivery pricing and logistics planning through more accurate location data.

She also assured Nigerians that adequate safeguards had been put in place to protect personal information, stressing that access to address data would be strictly controlled.

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