NITDA DG Calls for Data-Driven Regulation as Digital Finance Expands

The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has called for a shift towards more data-driven and proactive regulatory oversight as Nigeria’s financial ecosystem continues to digitise.

Inuwa made the call while speaking at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Committee of Directors’ Retreat in Lagos, where he highlighted the rapid transformation of the country’s financial sector.

According to him, Nigeria recorded about N1.07 quadrillion in electronic payment transactions in 2024, reflecting the growing dependence on digital platforms, mobile applications, cloud infrastructure, third-party service providers and continuous data flows.

The NITDA chief said regulators could no longer rely primarily on traditional periodic reporting to supervise an increasingly complex digital financial system.

He advocated the use of real-time data flows, complete-population analytics and early-warning indicators to help regulators identify vulnerabilities before they develop into major disruptions.

Inuwa also stressed the need for stronger oversight of third-party dependencies within the financial sector, noting that banks increasingly rely on telecommunications networks, cloud hosting and external payment switches.

He said regulators must understand and monitor these interconnected systems to ensure that essential financial services remain operational during network or system failures.

On artificial intelligence, Inuwa encouraged the adoption of AI and supervisory technologies to strengthen regulatory oversight, while cautioning that automated systems should support rather than replace human judgment.