Nigeria's CBN Mandate Forces Data Centre Rush — By January Deadline

Nigeria's financial regulator has given data centre operators until January to comply with sweeping new rules requiring all data related to the country's banking and payments systems to be hosted locally — a mandate that is already exposing gaps in infrastructure capacity and raising questions about foreign investment in Africa's largest economy.

CBN's Local Hosting Directive Takes Effect

The Central Bank of Nigeria issued the mandate requiring financial institutions and payment service providers to store customer data within the country's borders. The directive targets a sector that has grown rapidly as mobile money and digital banking expand across West Africa. Officials at the CBN confirmed the January deadline in correspondence reviewed by local media, though the regulator declined to specify which exact date without further formal announcement.

The policy marks a significant shift from previous guidance, which allowed data to be stored overseas as long as adequate security measures were in place. Now, every transaction record, customer profile, and system log generated by Nigeria's banking sector must reside on servers physically located within Nigeria.

Infrastructure Gaps Threaten Compliance