Nigeria is seeking a fresh $10.5 million loan from the World Bank to enhance the Central Bank of Nigeria’s technical capacity and modernize the country’s domestic payment infrastructure.
The proposed CBN Technical Assistance Facility aims to support the integration of innovative technologies and data science into the CBN’s supervisory processes, helping to strengthen regulatory oversight and improve efficiency in the financial sector, according to information obtained from the World Bank website on Thursday.
The initiative is expected to help the CBN address both long-standing and emerging challenges in Nigeria’s rapidly evolving financial landscape, while enhancing the country’s domestic payment infrastructure for remittances.
Currently at the concept review stage, the project will focus on three key areas. First, it aims to strengthen the CBN’s institutional capacity to keep up with technological advancements. This will be achieved through a strong governance framework, expert advisory support, peer-to-peer exchanges with other central banks, and the modernization of the CBN’s internal processes to better align with the digital era.
Secondly, the project will boost the CBN’s supervisory capacity by leveraging technology and data. This includes funding modern technical solutions, such as Supervisory Technology systems, to enhance data accuracy, operational efficiency, and risk-based supervision.
Also, the initiative aims to modernize domestic payment systems for remittances, improving their safety and reliability.
The project will explore innovative strategies to channel informal remittance flows into formal systems, while conducting annual surveys on remittance-receiving households. Additionally, it will promote peer-to-peer learning to facilitate knowledge exchange.
According to the World Bank, the objective of this project is “to strengthen technology-enabled, data-driven, risk-based supervision at the CBN and improve domestic payment infrastructure for remittances in Nigeria.”
The project supports the government’s goal of achieving a cashless economy and the growing adoption of digital financial services in Nigeria.
With a commitment of $10.5 million, the scheme is set for board approval on June 12, 2025. The Central Bank of Nigeria will serve as the implementing agency.
It was earlier reported that the World Bank approved three financing operations totaling $1.08 billion to support education, nutrition, and economic resilience in Nigeria.
A statement on the World Bank’s website this week highlighted that the concessional loans are intended to enhance education quality, boost household and community resilience, and improve nutrition for underserved groups in Nigeria.
The statement read, “The World Bank has approved three operations in Nigeria, totalling $1.08bn in concessional financing, to enhance education quality, build household and community resilience, and improve nutrition for underserved groups.”