CBN Reports 57% of Banks Ready for Data Localisation by 2027

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) announced that 57 percent of financial institutions surveyed are ready to comply with Nigeria's payment data localisation policy ahead of the January 1, 2027 deadline. This information was disclosed during an Executive Regulatory Dialogue on the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative (NSCI) and Data Localisation Implementation held in Lagos.

Dr Rakiya Yusuf, Director of the CBN’s Payment System Supervision Department, and Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General of NITDA, emphasized ongoing efforts to ensure full compliance across the financial sector. They warned that institutions failing to meet the requirements could face sanctions.

Dr Yusuf noted that the survey indicated that more than half of the financial institutions assessed were prepared for the deadline, while the remaining institutions are expected to address outstanding gaps before January 2027. The goal is for all institutions to have localised payment data by the deadline.