Development of a National FinTech Strategy 

	Country:	Nigeria
	Member institution:	Central Bank of Nigeria
	Timeline:	November 2020 – December 2022
	Thematic area:	Digital Financial Services

Context 

A 2020 survey found that 38 million adult Nigerians are financially excluded, and that 81% of this excluded population own a mobile phone. Despite Central Bank efforts to facilitate the use of Digital Financial Services, awareness and adoption levels on mobile money remained low.  

A National FinTech Strategy was proposed to identify strategic initiatives and investment opportunities across the FinTech ecosystem, to generate data to speed up FinTech ecosystem development, and to build the foundation for planning actions, monitoring progress, and evaluating the impact of policies, reforms and investments.  

Project Activities 

• Development of a National FinTech Strategy, comprising 29 initiatives, and aligned with Nigeria’s Digital Economy Strategy and 2022 Start-Up Bill. 

• Strategy development involved the active participation of 41 local and foreign institutions, including financial services regulators, government agencies, banks, switching companies and infrastructure providers. 

• Officially launched at the International Financial Inclusion Conference held on November 24-25, 2022. 

Outcome 

The National FinTech Strategy is expected to support Nigeria’s vision to be the leading inclusive digital and FinTech ecosystem in Africa, with the mission to develop a proportionate and balanced environment that supports innovation and collaboration, promotes inclusive growth, harnesses and retains relent, attracts investments and develop digital infrastructure.  

The project highlighted the CBN’s commitment to fostering an enabling environment for Fintech innovation and promoting widespread access to high-quality financial services. By leveraging the power of technology, Nigeria is poised to accelerate its progress toward financial inclusion and embrace the opportunities presented by the digital economy.