CBN flags compliance costs, slow approvals as fintech growth pains

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has identified high compliance costs and prolonged regulatory approval timelinesas major obstacles slowing the growth of Nigeria’s fast-rising fintech sector.

The concerns are contained in the 2025 CBN Fintech Report, which reviewed Nigeria’s evolving digital finance ecosystem through surveys, stakeholder workshops and regulator–industry engagements.

According to the report, while Nigeria remains one of Africa’s leading fintech hubs, regulatory friction is increasingly weighing down innovation, product rollout and expansion plans of fintech operators.

Findings from the CBN-led survey revealed that 87.5 per cent of fintech firms said the cost of meeting regulatory and risk requirements significantly affects their ability to innovate, while 62.5 per cent identified delays in approvals and ambiguity in guidelines as their biggest challenges.

The report noted that regulatory timelines have become a major pain point, with over one-third of fintech operators saying it takes more than 12 months to bring a new product to market due largely to compliance bottlenecks.

CBN acknowledged that perceptions of the regulatory environment remain sharply divided, with exactly half of respondents describing it as supportive and the other half seeing it as restrictive, a split driven by licensing delays, inconsistent application of rules and limited clarity in regulatory guidance.

Despite these challenges, the apex bank reaffirmed its commitment to building a regulatory framework that encourages innovation without compromising financial stability and system integrity.

The report stated that Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem has grown rapidly over the past decade, supported by real-time payments infrastructure, regulatory reforms and strong collaboration between the CBN and industry players, but warned that unresolved regulatory frictions could slow momentum.

To address the identified gaps, the CBN proposed streamlining approval processes, improving regulatory clarity and deploying supervisory technology to reduce compliance burden and shorten time-to-market for new products.

The report also highlighted strong appetite among fintech firms for deeper engagement with regulators, with 75 per cent of respondents calling for structured and regular dialogue platforms, while all surveyed firms expressed willingness to participate in regulatory sandboxes and policy pilots.

The CBN said collaboration between regulators and innovators would be critical in repositioning Nigeria from a fintech frontrunner to a global reference point for digital finance, stressing that innovation, inclusion and integrity must advance together.