Nigeria has emerged as one of Africa’s leading fintech ecosystems, driven by progressive regulatory reforms, robust digital payments infrastructure, and a rapidly growing innovation community.
The country has long been a pioneer in digital financial innovation. As far back as 2011, Nigeria implemented a nationwide, real-time interoperable payments system, making instant interbank transfers a standard feature of daily financial life well ahead of many advanced and emerging economies.
As artificial intelligence (AI) adoption accelerates globally becoming a foundation technology in Fintech, Nigerian fintech companies are increasingly leveraging AI to strengthen risk management and improve operational efficiency.
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A recent Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) report titled “Shaping the Future of Fintech in Nigeria: Innovation, Inclusion and Integrity” highlights that fraud detection is the most prevalent AI use case, adopted by 87.5% of surveyed firms.
Nearly 9 out of 10 Nigerian fintech companies use artificial intelligence primarily to detect fraudulent transactions. This reflects the severity of fraud challenges in the sector, which industry stakeholders described as a major issue.
Despite growing adoption, the ability to scale AI solutions remains constrained. Limited access to technical talent and a lack of regulatory clarity were each identified by 37.5% of firms as the most significant obstacles. As a result, the most sought-after support is access to high-quality data and infrastructure, cited by 50% of respondents.
Stakeholders broadly agree that Nigeria’s regulatory approach to AI should balance global relevance with the country’s unique domestic realities. Such an approach is seen as critical to ensuring that innovation promotes financial inclusion while maintaining trust and integrity across the system.
As AI systems evolve from experimental tools to embedded components of core financial services, discussions emphasized that regulatory engagement must extend beyond sandbox environments alone.
While regulatory sandboxes remain vital for early-stage testing, the increasing systemic importance of AI-driven decision-making in credit, fraud prevention, and compliance necessitates complementary frameworks focused on governance, supervisory learning, and institutional capacity-building.
To support this transition, stakeholders proposed the creation of a “Responsible AI in Finance” workstream. This initiative would convene regulators, industry participants, academic institutions, and international peers to advance ethical AI principles, develop supervisory methodologies, and strengthen talent pipelines.
About 62.5% of fintech firms reported being very interested in participating in an AI-focused regulatory sandbox. Their top priorities include ensuring ethical and transparent AI use in credit and risk decisions, as well as fair and inclusive access to AI tools and data each identified by 75% of respondents.
Outlook
Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem is well-positioned to deepen the responsible use of AI as a catalyst for inclusion, efficiency, and trust in financial services. Progress will depend on sustained collaboration between regulators and industry players, clearer regulatory guidance, and continued investment in talent and data infrastructure.
If these elements align, Nigeria could not only strengthen its domestic financial system but also emerge as a continental reference point for responsible AI adoption in finance.