The Central Bank of Nigeria has issued a directive requiring all banks, payment service providers, and fintech companies operating in the country to disclose their beneficial owners and store payments data locally. The order, detailed in a circular dated June 10, 2026, mandates that these institutions submit detailed information on their ultimate controlling persons to the CBN by July 10, 2026. The regulator stated that the move is intended to strengthen the oversight of the financial system and mitigate risks related to money laundering and terrorism financing.

In addition to ownership disclosure, the circular stipulates that all payments data must be stored within Nigeria. This requirement applies to both primary and backup data, with the CBN stating it will not permit the transfer of such information outside the country. The directive is part of a broader push by Nigerian authorities to increase transparency and control within a rapidly digitising financial ecosystem that has seen significant growth in mobile money and digital payment platforms.

The Nigerian payments landscape is one of the most active in Africa, featuring a mix of traditional banks, homegrown fintech firms like Interswitch and Paga, and subsidiaries of pan-African giants such as MTN's MoMo. The sector is currently undergoing a period of rapid evolution and partnership. For instance, Interswitch, a leading Nigerian digital payments company, recently partnered with Swiss banking software firm Temenos to expand digital banking services across the continent.

Other notable developments include the collaboration between payments orchestration platform Yuno and connectivity hub Onafriq to facilitate pan-African payments for global merchants. Meanwhile, Nigerian fintech Paga is accelerating its exploration of blockchain-based finance through new partnerships with Crossmint and Sui to advance its stablecoin initiatives. These moves highlight a sector that is both expanding its reach and experimenting with new technologies, even as regulatory scrutiny intensifies.

The CBN's new rules arrive as major players are also seeking to deepen their integration into consumers' daily financial lives. MTN's mobile money platform, MoMo, has partnered with Ant International to transform into a 'super app', with Nigeria designated as the first market for this rollout. Such super apps aim to offer a wide range of services from payments to commerce on a single platform, further embedding financial technology in everyday transactions.

Analysts suggest the CBN's directive on data localisation and ownership transparency is a logical step for a regulator overseeing an increasingly complex and interconnected digital finance sector. By requiring data to reside domestically, the bank aims to ensure it has unimpeded access for supervisory and investigative purposes. The beneficial ownership disclosure is seen as a measure to peel back complex corporate structures that could obscure the true controllers of financial institutions, a concern for regulators globally.

The directive gives affected institutions a one-month window to comply with the ownership disclosure requirement. The CBN has indicated that failure to adhere to the new guidelines may result in sanctions, though the specific penalties were not detailed in the circular. The move aligns with ongoing efforts by the Nigerian government to improve financial integrity and follows similar regulatory trends observed in other major African economies seeking to balance innovation with systemic stability.