Nigeria: the rise of Open Banking
Nigeria is positioning itself as a pioneer in Africa’s Open Banking revolution. Spearheaded by proactive regulation, deep stakeholder collaboration, and Fintech-driven innovation, the country is set to launch its first Open Banking ecosystem in August 2025—marking a milestone in African finance.
How it started
Nigeria’s Open Banking journey began with high-level coordination between regulators, financial institutions, and industry experts. It started with the creation of OBN (Open Banking Nigeria) which was initiated by industry veterans, and aimed at driving API standards and advocacy. Several regulations have since then been launched by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN): the Regulatory Framework for Open Banking, Operational Guidelines, etc.
Timeline
- 2017 – Creation of Open Banking Nigeria (industry-led body)
- 2021 – CBN issues Open Banking Regulatory Framework
- 2022 – CBN includes Open Banking in Payments System Vision 2025
- March 2023 – Final Operational Guidelines issued (tiered API access, OBR, consent rules)
- August 2025 – Go-live: customer-authorized data sharing via standardized APIs begins
Nigerian market specifics
| Aspects | Details |
|---|---|
| Regulatory or Market Driven? | Regulatory-driven: Regulatory-driven: CBN leads, with Open Banking Nigeria (55+ members) co-developing standards. |
| Regulators | Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sets framework and supervises implementation. Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS)manages Open Banking Registry (OBR) and Consent Management System (OBCMS). |
| Open Banking or Open Finance? | Initially Open Banking; however, Open Finance too is in the pipeline, with digital identity, payment initiation, credit scoring, and virtual-account services explicitly integrated. |
| Core Data | Includes account balances, transaction history, payment initiation, card controls, virtual-accounts, and future expansion into lending, insurance, investments, and credit scoring. |
Use cases and ecosystem players
Data aggregators & Fintechs
- Mono, Okra, OnePipe, Lendsqr: Already building infrastructure to plug into bank APIs; poised to offer personal finance, credit scoring, and embedded services.
Banks & digital challengers
- Sterling Bank, Sparkle, Wema, FCMB: Early API providers; FCMB joined Open Banking Nigeria in 2020.
- Kuda Bank, PalmPay: Neobanks leveraging APIs and strong mobile strategies; PalmPay passed 35 M users, hinting at scale.
Infrastructure & governance
- Open Banking Nigeria: Ensures coordination across banks, Fintechs, regulators.
- NIBSS-backed systems: Consent registry and secure API registration at the core.
Regulatory support
- Regulatory sandbox and contactless push: CBN offers environments for live testing and advanced payment use cases.
What’s next?
- Go‑live in August 2025: Standardized APIs for account data and payment initiation begin operation.
- Expansion into Open Finance: Expect integrations for credit, insurance, investments, and virtual accounts.
- Fintech innovation: Aggregation, scoring, personal finance, and embedded services to flourish.
- Challenges: Data privacy, digital literacy, infrastructure, and API interoperability require ongoing focus.
- Infrastructure upgrades: CBN’s Payments System Vision supports contactless payments, CBDC (eNaira), and resilient digital rails.
Nigeria’s Open Banking ecosystem is emerging from a regulated incubator into real-world application, with August 2025 set for launch. Strong regulatory momentum, robust stakeholder engagement, and rising Fintech capabilities highlight Nigeria’s ambition to lead Africa’s Open Finance evolution. However, success will depend on strong infrastructure, consumer trust, and interoperability.
Sources
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https://openbanking.ng/open-banking-in-nigeria/
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https://hackernoon.com/open-banking-and-the-nigerian-fintech-everything-you-need-to-know
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https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/01/open-banking-in-nigeria-a-game-changer-for-2025-and-beyond
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https://www.ft.com/content/f9b54a77-3565-4c0a-91f1-d78fc63659ae
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https://www.sarah-huang.com/post/open-banking-in-nigeria
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https://www.openbankingexpo.com/features/feature-how-has-nigeria-approached-open-banking
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https://www.cbn.gov.ng/PaymentsSystem/PSV2025.html