As CBN Begins Data Migration, Local Hosting
Emma Okonji commends the Central Bank of Nigeria for kickstarting the process of migrating its payments transaction data currently being hosted outside of the country, with the intent to host
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in a recent circular, has mandated all financial institutions and fintech companies to migrate their payments transaction data generated within Nigeria to local hosting within Nigeria, with full compliance set for January 1, 2027. Since the directive was issued, many fintech companies have expressed skepticism and concerns about the feasibility of the data migration process due to potential data loss, insecurity, and doubts about the competency of local data centres in Nigeria.
However, the CBN has surprised the financial sector by announcing that it has also commenced the process of migrating its sensitive payments transaction data from outside Nigeria to Nigeria. The CBN's Director, Payments Systems Supervision Department, Dr. Rakiya Opemi Yusuf, addressed this at the 'CloudReady Nigeria Financial Services Roundtable' organized by Africa Hyperscalers in Lagos, emphasizing that the compliance deadline remains unchanged.
Yusuf stated that the CBN's task is to ensure proper implementation of the directive and that the data migration process involves a complete data audit, classification, architecture, and contracts, as well as mitigation, testing, and verification.
The CBN's surprise move aims to set an example for other operators to follow suit, with the regulator stressing that the deadline for compliance is not negotiable and cannot be extended.
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