ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

The Central Bank of Nigeria has commenced applications for the second cohort of its regulatory sandbox programme, inviting innovators, financial institutions, virtual asset service providers, fintechs and technology companies to submit proposals for supervised testing of new financial products and services.

The application window opened on August 12, 2026, and will close on August 31, 2026, according to a statement signed by the acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department, Hakama Sidi-Ali.

The CBN said the second cohort builds on its efforts to promote responsible innovation within Nigeria’s financial system while maintaining consumer protection, financial stability and market integrity.

Under Cohort 2, the programme will operate through two dedicated testing tracks.

The first is the virtual asset service provider track, which is designed to support innovative solutions involving virtual assets, stablecoins, payments, settlement, custody, wallets and related financial infrastructure that require supervised live testing.

The second is the data-enabled financial services track, which will support innovations that use secure digital infrastructure and permission-based data sharing to improve financial inclusion, payments, credit, risk management, operational efficiency and consumer outcomes.

The CBN explained that its regulatory sandbox provides a controlled environment where eligible participants can test innovative financial products, services, business models and enabling technologies under the supervision of the apex bank.

According to the bank, the arrangement allows regulators and innovators to engage throughout the testing process, enabling the CBN to better understand emerging technologies while allowing companies to test their solutions within clearly defined regulatory parameters.

The apex bank said the launch of the second cohort reflects its commitment to developing a transparent, proportionate and risk-based regulatory framework capable of encouraging innovation without compromising monetary and financial stability.

It added that lessons gathered from supervised testing would contribute to the development of regulatory and supervisory frameworks for Nigeria’s evolving digital financial ecosystem.

Eligible applicants will be assessed based on several criteria, including the level of innovation, readiness for controlled live testing, potential benefits to consumers or the market, governance structures, risk management capacity and the suitability of their proposed testing plans.

Successful participants will conduct supervised testing within parameters agreed with the CBN.

The bank said the testing process would include safeguards covering consumer protection, operational resilience, cybersecurity and regulatory reporting.

However, the CBN stressed that participation in the regulatory sandbox should not be interpreted as a licence or approval to operate outside the specific testing parameters approved by the bank.

It said the programme is intended to facilitate responsible experimentation, strengthen engagement between regulators and innovators, and support evidence-based policymaking in accordance with the CBN’s statutory mandate.

Interested organisations are required to submit their applications through the CBN regulatory sandbox portal before the August 31 deadline.

The latest initiative comes as Nigeria’s financial sector continues to see rapid development in digital payments, fintech services, virtual assets and data-driven financial products, increasing the need for regulatory frameworks that can accommodate emerging technologies while managing associated risks.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

The naira remained broadly stable against the United States dollar on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, with the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) rate trading around the mid-₦1,360 band while the parallel market hovered in the low-₦1,400 range.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s NFEM platform showed the official exchange rate at about ₦1,364 per dollar, reflecting only marginal movement from recent sessions. The official rate is derived from the volume-weighted average of trades executed on the market and serves as Nigeria’s benchmark exchange rate.

Currency dealers in Lagos said the parallel market (black market) traded at approximately ₦1,405 per dollar for buying and ₦1,415 per dollar for selling on Wednesday morning, keeping the spread between the official and unofficial markets relatively narrow compared with the sharp gaps recorded in 2024 and early 2025. Recent market trackers have shown street-market quotes clustering around the ₦1,410 region.

At the prevailing official rate, $100 exchanged for roughly ₦136,400, while $1,000 was worth about ₦1.364 million. In the parallel market, the same amounts were valued at about ₦141,500 for $100 and ₦1.415 million for $1,000.

Market participants attributed the relative calm to continued liquidity management by the Central Bank of Nigeria and steady foreign-exchange supply through the formal market. Analysts also noted that importer demand has remained moderate, helping the naira hold within a relatively tight range in recent weeks.

Reuters reported that traders expect the naira to remain broadly stable in the near term, supported by the CBN’s presence in the market and efforts to ease demand pressure for dollars. The report placed recent official-market trading around the ₦1,360 level and street trading near ₦1,425 per dollar.

The official market has traded mostly between ₦1,362 and ₦1,370 per dollar in recent sessions, according to market data compiled by Proshare, underscoring the currency’s recent consolidation around the ₦1,360 range.

For Nigerians monitoring exchange rates for travel, school fees, imports, or international payments, the key levels to watch today are about ₦1,364/$ at the official NFEM window and ₦1,415/$ in the parallel market.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has directed that the Secretariat of the dissolved Ad-hoc Committee on Sales of Federal Government Houses (SFGH) in the Federal Capital Territory be closed down with immediate effect.

A statement on Wednesday, by the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, stated that the Minister also approved the creation of a division in the Departrment of Land Administration to handle matters relating to sales of Federal Government Houses in the FCT, hitherto carried out by the defunct SFGH.

Upon the completion of the assignments of Ad-hoc Committee on Sales of Federal Government Houses in the FCT, the Secretariat was retained to attend to issues arising from the committee’s activities.

With the formal closure of the Secretariat, the general public is enjoined to henceforth, approach the Department of Land Administration on all issues relating to sale of Federal Government Houses in the FCT.

Members of the public are also urged to be mindful of the antics and activities of fraudsters who parade themselves as staff, officers and members of the defunct Ad-Hoc Committee/Secretariat on SFGH as the Committee and Secretariat no longer exist.