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Nigeria: Gradually Enforcing Regulation
The rule of law is more about enforcing existing rules than creating new laws. Any society that does not abide by some code of conduct whether in public or private matters tends to become chaotic, and virtually ungovernable.
This is precisely what happened when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) simultaneously went into deep slumber until being surreptitiously awoken with the coming of the new Government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to Yury Fedotov, executive director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Corruption represents a major threat to rule of law and sustainable development the world over. It has a disproportionate, destructive impact on the poor and most vulnerable, but it is also quite simply bad for business”.
There is something disturbingly eerie about not enforcing the rules. I am quite certain that if you have lived in any of the big cities in Nigeria, you may have had cause to ironically question your sanity when you sit dutifully and patiently in your lane on a busy traffic day and you see what should ordinarily be the folly of ‘mad people’ driving against oncoming cars to beat the traffic.
You can’t help fuming inwardly when they suffer absolutely no consequence, and as a result, car after car drive past you to partake in the maddening spree.
The smart aleks, when challenged, cursorily pass their actions off by reminding you that “this is Nigeria”; whatever that is supposed to mean.
That is where normality seems crazy and madness assumes the new normal. The whole society eventually descends into a macabre dance of impunity. Conscience is thrown out, and on sale to the highest bidder.
To buttress the importance and impact of enforcement, consider that Insurance regulation in Nigeria, vide the Insurance Companies Act of 1961 was not far behind Banking regulation vide the The Central Bank Act of 1958 (which was only fully implemented in July 1959).
While our banks have thrived, expanding across the continent and beyond, mostly due to stringent regulation and effective supervision, insurance has fallen very far behind because the regulators have not made the required bold calls. Very recently, Mohammed Rafiu, House Committee Chairman on banks and other financial institutions shockingly revealed that only 30% of cars in Nigeria are insured. And that there is flagrant disregard for the five other compulsory insurance categories in the country.
Nigeria is a classic example of a nation rich in laws but weak in enforcement.
This is why the recent spates of regulatory enforcement brings good cheer to locals and foreigners alike, albeit some of the fines for infringements have tended to be quite excessive; most especially the $5.1b record fine on GSM giant MTN, by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) for mobile phone SIM card registration infractions.
There have been other high profile regulatory actions by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) on Guinness and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) on Stanbic Bank.
Enforcement of regulation however, must be undertaken within the full ambit of the law and respect for fundamental human rights. The right of appeal must be guaranteed up to the highest level of jurisprudence.
The blind application of the law without regard to status, colour or creed is what enshrines deterrence and increases the value of the real estate of the postcode.
There is no doubt that the recent imposition of a hefty $15b fine by the US Government on German carmaker, Volkswagen, for emission results falsification will cause contemporaries to think twice before yielding to any temptation to similarly cut corners.
It is the pursuit of deterrence that drives developed countries from sparing any high ranking members of the society who fall foul of the law, not least their Presidents, who are rather held to higher account.
The celebrated case of former American President, Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal is a good example.
On this score we have a lot to do to change the negative perception of the Nigerian (and indeed African) postcode.
Creating an orderly and equitable society is more edifying and sustainable than the sheer desperation displayed by our brothers and sisters who feel stymied by a skewed society, thus seeking to migrate to other climes by any means possible, not excluding dangerously hanging from the tyres of an aircraft, to braving raging storms at sea on makeshift rafts.
As Nigeria turns to ICT and Telecoms for the next wave of economic growth, in the wake of the oil price collapse, it is imperative that we create an enabling regulatory environment that will attract entrepreneurs and enable them to thrive. In ensuring an enabling environment, I shall like to deviate from the well-worn songs of inadequate power supply and other infrastructure deficiencies and rather focus on one critical area where we could very easily be blindsided; the role of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP).
NOTAP was established in 1979 in response to Nigeria’s need to facilitate the emergence of a strong Innovative, Science and Technology based economy.
NOTAP systematically tracks the inflow of technology into Nigeria and strategizes for its adaptation and domestication. Essentially, NOTAP is the gate-keeper that approves all foreign exchange payments to global technology suppliers.
Specifically with regard to the Software space, and following reports of flagrant flouting of the rules of the NOTAP Act by the major global software vendors, NOTAP along with the CBN convened a workshop in September 2007, with all major software vendors operating in Nigeria to reiterate the rules and emphasize the need for strict adherence.
Part of the communique following the workshop included the following: Every foreign software licensor should set up a Technical Support Centre for software development beyond their current sales and marketing offices.
Review the Annual Technical Support (ATS) fees from 10% of cost of the software license to a percentage ranging from 15% to 23%.
A minimum of 40% of the ATS fee should be paid to Local Value Added Resellers (VAR) in local currency and the VAR must be indigenous.
Collaboration with NOTAP to develop a checklist to ensure that Local VARs are not mere ‘commission agents’ but actually acquire marketable competent skills from the foreign licensors with a view to developing variants of the software which can complement the foreign software to meet the needs of the local market, while shouldering their fair share of the workload.
While the global vendors ensured that they benefitted from the doubling of ATS fees from 10% to 23% they did nothing about the setting up of technical support centers in the country nor ensure that 40% of the increased ATS is paid to local companies who are the channels for delivery of the technical support services.
Once again, lack of enforcement is at the heart of the collapse of an otherwise fair trade regulation.
Unfortunately, this is not without the mal-acquiescence of the local companies who will rather engage in cut throat competition by sabotaging the system to collect a paltry 5-10% of ATS fees than insist on the NOTAP stipulated 40% that had been instituted to protect them from unfair trade, and help them to grow and thrive and contribute to the economy.
What the indigenous companies do not realize is that this unhealthy competition and sabotage of the regulation can only lead to a race to the bottom.
Take a typical case where a local software Value Added Reseller (VAR) receives a paltry 5% of the ATS fees, and is also expected to bear the full tax liability on the transaction (including that of the global software company who pays absolutely no taxes in Nigeria on the transaction).
Now the applicable withholding tax on Software and Services is 10% of the transaction value. In essence, the local company has already incurred a deficit of 5% in operating margin (a clear and outright loss, without even factoring in operating expenses).
This is one of the main reasons why most of the local companies are dying at a time when many economies are booming on the back of technology entrepreneurship, think Google, UBER and Alibaba.
This scenario however, does not entirely exonerate NOTAP, as they are charged with enforcement of the regulation and have all means, power and instruments of sanction to achieve effective enforcement. What seems lacking is the will to succeed at our jobs upon which the sustainability of the polity depends; and this does not apply to NOTAP alone. Many examples abound.
As a nation, we have two choices; throw our hands helplessly up in the air and justify our tardiness with the cliché ‘this is Nigeria’, or we can buckle down to enforce the rules and make our country an attractive postcode.
Austin Okere is the Founder of CWG Plc, the largest Systems Integration Company in Sub-Saharan Africa & Entrepreneur in Residence at CBS, New York. Austin also serves on the World Economic Forum Business Council on Innovation and Intrapreneurship.
Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), Ikoyi, Lagos, said its operatives have busted a syndicate who used Point of Sale (POS) terminals and other technological tools to gain access to financial institution’s database to steal more than N3 billion.
Police did not name the financial institution where the money was stolen but DSP Ovie Ewhubare, spokesperson for the Unit, in a statement Friday, said that while a member of the syndicate has been arrested, other remained at large.
The PSFU spokesperson said the suspect was apprehended following an extensive investigation into a sophisticated cyber intrusion targeting a financial institution.
“The members of the syndicate allegedly used Point of Sale (POS) terminals and other technological tools to gain unauthorised access to the financial institution’s database.
“The breach enabled the suspects to initiate fraudulent transactions worth more than N3 billion,’’ he said.
According to him, investigations reveal that the proceeds of the alleged fraud are quickly laundered through multiple bank accounts in an attempt to conceal the source and movement of the funds.
The spokesperson said that the detectives deployed advanced digital forensic techniques and financial analysis to trace the transactions, identify members of the syndicate and recover key evidence to support prosecution.
Ewhubare said that Mr Eloho Okpoiakpo, commissioner of Police in charge of the PSFU, commended the investigating team for its professionalism in uncovering the alleged fraud.Law Enforcement
He said that Okpoiakpo directed the detectives to intensify efforts to apprehend other fleeing members of the syndicate, assuring that every effort would be made to bring all those involved to justice.
A new case study by Moniepoint Inc., Africa’s all-in-one financial ecosystem platform for individuals, businesses and their customers, traces four decades of Nigeria’s food service industry and reveals how the sector’s most persistent payment problems, that include settlement delays, unreliable confirmation, unchecked theft and inaccessible credit have been resolved by real-time digital infrastructure, turning food commerce into an $11.09 billion market in 2025.
The sector has undergone a massive structural shift marked by food-delivery super-apps, as well as a new generation of cloud kitchens operating without a single dining chair, with the food service industry poised to experience unprecedented growth as the Nigerian market is projected to reach $19.31 billion by 2030, growing at 11.73% annually.
The study traces the industry’s roots from the UAC-owned Kingsway Rendezvous of 1973 and the 1986 launch of Mr Bigg’s, through the rise of Chicken Republic and other quick-service chains, to the present day, where food and drinks form the second-largest merchant sector on Moniepoint’s platform, trailing only retail.
Tosin Eniolorunda, group CEO of Moniepoint Inc., noted that “Moniepoint believes financial inclusion is not just about access. It’s about dignity, about enabling people to transact on their terms. What’s happening in the food service sector today is significant. The real competitive question today is how deeply that payment infrastructure is woven into the way the business actually runs day to day.
“Moniepoint is sitting right at the centre of that shift. We are ensuring that payments are connected to inventory, inventory to recipes, recipes to procurement, procurement to credit, and credit to growth plans. By building out tools like Moniebook and Orda that match the operational reality of these culinary entrepreneurs, who act as mini-factories converting perishable raw materials into time-sensitive output, we are providing the digital operating system that drives sustainable scale for Nigeria’s socio-economic development.”
The report finds that for most of that history, Nigerian food businesses ran almost entirely on cash, with multi-location operators managing cash across a dozen or more outlets, facing constant exposure to loss, theft and human error. The rise of bank transfers in the 2010s introduced a new pain point around confirming that the payment had actually landed before releasing an order. At peak hours, the study notes, this manual verification could add two to five minutes to every transaction, with digital infrastructure most likely to falter precisely when demand and stakes were highest, especially during Christmas, New Year’s and Eid celebrations.
The study also documents how disconnected payment and inventory systems enabled operational leakage that was structurally difficult to detect, from unaccounted stock in the kitchen to under-ringing at the till and how Nigeria’s collateral-based lending system routinely locked thriving food businesses out of credit.
The International Finance Corporation estimates that the country’s unmet MSME credit demand was $32.2 billion in 2022, a gap that falls disproportionately on women, who, the report shows, own 86.8% of businesses in the accommodation and food services sector, the most female-dominated sector in the Nigerian economy.
To address these bottlenecks, Moniepoint introduced three structural interventions that reshaped the industry’s economics. Moving away from the traditional $T+1$ bank settlement cycle, it provided instant, same-day access to funds, allowing operators to finance the next morning’s inventory directly from the previous day’s sales.
This was paired with automated transfer confirmation at the terminal to eliminate manual verification queues and an embedded lending model that used verified transaction history instead of property collateral to unlock bulk purchasing power ahead of seasonal surges. Driven by these updates and the tightening of the cashless policy, Moniepoint witnessed a 2,823% surge in QSR terminal usage.
Beyond payments, a unified business banking dashboard replaced month-end spreadsheets with real-time, role-based visibility to curb financial misconduct across multiple branches. With Moniepoint’s launch of Moniebook and the acquisition of Orda, analysts say that the business is transitioning from a payment provider to a complete operating system, in line with its ecosystem ambition.
This integration allows culinary businesses to track ingredient depletion against precise recipes to expose hidden theft or portioning errors, while simultaneously consolidating fragmented orders from delivery apps, social media, and walk-ins into a single inventory ledger.
Some other insights from the study:
- Transaction volume across the industry peaks at lunch, between 1 pm and 2 pm, with a second evening peak at 7 pm reaching 10 to 15 times its level at 7 am – except online food delivery, which peaks and remains strong past 10 pm.
- Card payment activity records its biggest month-on-month jump of the year between November and December, while April is the industry’s quietest month for payment activity, running 46.3% below December’s.
This food service case study joins Moniepoint’s expanding pool of definitive thought leadership materials curated for the benefit of stakeholders, including regulators, investors, and the general public, aimed at enhancing their understanding of how digital payment ecosystems are transforming Nigeria’s commercial landscape across diverse sectors and market structures.
Flutterwave has secured a strategic investment from Circle Ventures, the venture capital arm of Circle Internet Group, to accelerate the expansion of its USDC payments and settlement infrastructure across Africa.
This comes as demand for faster and more efficient cross-border transactions grows.
The investment strengthens Flutterwave’s ambition to integrate USDC settlement into its existing payment ecosystem, allowing businesses to receive payments in local currencies while settling in the dollar-backed stablecoin.
The company said the move would reduce settlement delays and transaction costs while enabling near-instant settlements beyond traditional banking hours.
The announcement comes after Flutterwave participated in the launch of the Circle Payments Network in 2025, marking a deeper collaboration between the two companies in advancing digital payment infrastructure across the continent.
Flutterwave said the investment aligns with its strategy of positioning stablecoins as a key component of Africa’s financial infrastructure, while ensuring blockchain-based payment services operate within existing regulatory and compliance frameworks.
Commenting on the development, Flutterwave Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Olugbenga Agboola, said the investment would help build the infrastructure required for the next phase of global money movement from Africa.
According to him, stablecoins have evolved beyond experimentation into core financial infrastructure capable of transforming how businesses move money across borders.
“This support from Circle Ventures is about backing the rails that will power the next era of global money movement from Africa. Stablecoins like USDC are no longer an experiment; they are becoming core financial infrastructure.
“By embedding USDC settlement into our current payments infrastructure, we are building a system that lets businesses move money at the speed of the internet. This fundamentally changes how payments from Africa connect to the world, and it positions Flutterwave as the default stablecoin gateway for the continent,” Agboola said.
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