15 financial institutions set to miss data localisation deadline, NITDA survey shows

Fifteen of 44 financial institutions surveyed by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) reveal that they are unlikely or very unlikely to meet Nigeria’s data localisation requirements on time. The deadline for the localisation is January 1, 2027.

Three other unnamed institutions could not assess their readiness, according to the same report. Dr Muhammad Aminu Lawal, special assistant on digital transformation to NITDA’s Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, presented the survey in Lagos.

NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi

The Executive Regulatory Dialogue was convened by NITDA and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for regulators, banks, fintech operators and technology service providers.

Who is on track for data localisation, and who is not?

The 15 institutions at risk of not meeting the data localisation deadline make up 34% of respondents. By contrast, 26 institutions, or 59%, had completed the required actions or are expected to do so before the deadline. The report also showed that 22 of the 44 institutions had not started implementation at all, as at the time of the survey.

The agency, however, said the responses were self-reported, anonymised and aggregated. It stressed that they were not a formal compliance assessment.

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Where the delays are, according to NITDA’s report

Many institutions have done the groundwork on data localisation, but have failed to do anything else beyond that. While 70% had identified the data or systems covered by the requirements, 52% had mapped their hosting and administration arrangements.

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Far fewer had moved to action. Only 25% had secured board or executive approval and a budget, 23% had contracted local providers, and 18% had begun migration or remediation.

“Mapping is done; budgets, contracts and migration lag,” Lawal said.

What institutions want clarified

Unclear rules are the biggest factors slowing the march to data localisation, as the survey found that 64% of institutions wanted a definition of “payment transaction data”. 38% are still seeking clarity on what it means for data to be “stored and managed in Nigeria”.

Twenty-nine institutions said they could not proceed fully without further clarification. Half were working on assumptions in the meantime, and 16% said material work had been put on hold.

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The presentation named a written clarification on the scope of the requirements as a priority. It also called for clearer transition milestones, an exceptions process and guidance on existing contracts.

Compliance, it said, was “within reach for about six in 10, not yet for the rest”.