In a major step toward overhauling Nigeria’s fast-growing financial technology sector, lawmakers and stakeholders in the House of Representatives on Monday converged for a public hearing on a bill seeking to establish the Nigerian Fintech Regulatory Commission (NFRC).
Sponsored by Rep. Fuad Kayode Laguda, the bill seeks to establish a single, independent statutory body to license, supervise, and regulate fintech companies, technologies, and service providers across the country.
The proposed legislation aimed at replacing what lawmakers described as a fragmented multi-agency framework.
Declaring the hearing open, Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, said the initiative was critical to positioning Nigeria as Africa’s leading fintech hub while addressing persistent regulatory inconsistencies.
“It is an honour to be here and to welcome you all to this important public hearing on a Bill for an Act to provide for the establishment of the Nigerian Fintech Regulatory Commission and for related matters (HB.2389),” the Speaker said.
He explained that public hearings were a “time-honoured tradition of the legislature” designed to ensure that laws passed by the National Assembly are “enforceable, relevant, and consistent with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
In his lead debate, Rep. Laguda said the absence of a single regulatory authority for fintech operations had created compliance challenges and threatened investor confidence.
“I sponsor this bill to establish the NFRC to enhance the business and operational activities of fintech operators and service providers in Nigeria,” he said.
“I discovered that Nigeria has no single regulatory authority regulating the businesses, practices, and operations of fintech operators and service providers despite their impact on national growth and development.”
Currently, Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem is regulated by multiple agencies, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
According to Laguda, this “fragmented regulatory framework” forces operators to interface with several institutions, increasing costs and uncertainty.
“Rather than interfacing with multiple regulators, fintech stakeholders will only interface with the NFRC, thereby enabling ease of doing business for them,” he stated.
Lawmakers underscored the economic significance of the sector, citing rapid expansion in funding, company numbers, and transaction volumes.
Laguda referenced reports from the African Development Bank, BusinessDay, Statista, and the Financial Times showing that Nigeria’s fintech industry was valued at over $500 million between 2020 and 2021, with more than 103 registered startups during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
He added that Daily Trust reported on February 24, 2026, that Nigerian fintech startups raised over $520 million in equity funding in 2024.
“As of January 2024, Nigeria has 250 fintech companies, while the market value of the industry was projected at around $230 billion,” he said, citing a McKinsey & Company report.
“As of January 2026, nine fintech firms have a combined valuation of $10.6 billion, with over 430 fintech firms recorded in 2025.”
He further disclosed that Nigeria recorded over 108 billion mobile money transactions amounting to more than $1.6 billion in 2024.
Both the Speaker and the bill’s sponsor stressed that consumer protection and cybersecurity would be central to the proposed Commission’s mandate.
“The proposed Nigerian Fintech Regulatory Commission is expected to act as a statutory body that will oversee licensing, regulate, and supervise fintech services, and replace the existing multi-regulatory approach with a one-stop model,” Abbas said.
