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By Chinwendu Obienyi
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will prioritise modernising the payments system, expanding digital finance tools and deepening financial inclusion under its 2026 agenda.
Its Governor, Olayemi Cardoso said in a keynote address at the 60th Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN)’s annual bankers’ dinner which held recently.
The plans, he said, falls under a broader effort to restore monetary stability, rebuild confidence and strengthen the banking sector after several years of volatility.
Cardoso assured that the apex bank would accelerate reforms that position the country as a leader in digital payments across Africa. “The CBN’s ambition is to place Nigeria among the leading nations in payment innovation,” he said, adding that the bank is working to enhance platforms, interoperability and oversight to ensure safe, scalable and low-cost transactions.
Digital finance, already one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing economic segments, remains central to the bank’s strategy. Cardoso highlighted ongoing reviews of regulatory frameworks to better accommodate innovation, including fintech models that support lending, merchant payments and cross-border transactions.
According to him, more than 12 million contactless payment cards are now in circulation and the country’s regulatory sandbox has expanded to over 40 fintech innovators, enabling safe experimentation and responsible scaling of new digital finance solutions. “By mid-2025, leading fintech apps had surpassed 10 million downloads each, with one surpassing 50 million downloads, reflecting deep consumer adoption”, Cardoso revealed.
He added that the CBN intends to promote infrastructure upgrades that ensure “all Nigerians benefit from a more efficient, secure, and financially inclusive system.”
Financial inclusion remains one of the CBN’s most persistent challenges, despite progress over the past decade. Large parts of the population, especially in rural areas, still lack access to basic banking services. Acknowledging these gaps, the CBN Governor said new initiatives would target underserved demographics through agent banking, microfinance, remittance channels and mobile money expansion.
He emphasised the need to integrate unbanked citizens into the formal financial system to stimulate savings, improve credit allocation and support government welfare programmes.
His words, “At 74 per cent, the share of adults with access to formal financial services is approaching the global average. More than 3 million agent bankers now serve communities nationwide. Inclusion, however, must go beyond account ownership. It must translate into meaningful economic participation. To this end, we launched a Women’s Financial Inclusion Dashboard, a Women Entrepreneurs Finance Code, and an Inclusion Roadmap for Displaced Persons — initiatives designed to ensure underserved groups can access and use financial services. Digital wallets, mobile money platforms, and fintech-enabled microcredit solutions continue to expand options for households and MSMEs”.
Outlining a broad reform agenda for 2026, Cardoso said this is aimed at entrenching stability and reinforcing the bank’s credibility. The key pillars include strengthening the monetary transmission mechanism, tightening oversight of banks and promoting a more resilient macro-financial environment.
The governor hinted at more collaboration with fiscal authorities to align policies and curb structural drivers of inflation, including food insecurity and foreign-exchange market inefficiencies. He reiterated the CBN’s commitment to market-driven foreign-exchange management, complementing ongoing liquidity interventions while adding that another priority of the apex bank is to improve the governance of the banking system.
The CBN plans to enhance risk-management requirements, enforce prudential regulations more strictly and raise supervisory standards. Cardoso said these reforms are essential as banks scale operations, invest in digital platforms and adapt to new capital rules.
