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Central Bank of Nigeria requires local storage of payment data from January 2027
Banks and payment providers must keep Nigerian payment transaction data in Nigeria, a change that affects their cloud and data centre plans.
What happened
The Central Bank of Nigeria is requiring financial institutions and participants in the country's payments system to ensure that payment transaction data generated in Nigeria is stored and managed in Nigeria, beginning January 1, 2027. forbesafrica.com The Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Information Technology Development Agency have intensified their appeal to banks, fintech firms and payment service providers to store critical payment transaction data within the country before the deadline. ZAWYA Regulators said the requirement is essential for protecting Nigeria's digital sovereignty, improving oversight of the financial system and safeguarding sensitive customer information. ZAWYA
Around it
Dr Ayotunde Coker, chief executive of Open Access Data Centres, says engagement with companies seeking local infrastructure has increased since the directive. forbesafrica.com The renewed push came during a regulatory dialogue on the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative and data localisation held in Lagos, where Deputy Governor Lamido Yuguda described data as a strategic national asset. ZAWYA
What comes next
The compliance deadline for storing payment transaction data in Nigeria is January 1, 2027. forbesafrica.com+1
Sources
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