Nigerian banks and fintech companies are seeking an extension of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s January 2027 deadline for complying with its data localisation directive, saying the timeframe is insufficient for migrating large volumes of financial data from overseas cloud platforms to local infrastructure.

Industry executives raised the concerns at the inaugural GrowthX event organised by Techeconomy and TiLAwards in Lagos, calling for clearer regulatory guidelines and a phased implementation of the policy.

The CBN directive requires banks, payment service providers, mobile money operators, switching companies and other licensed payment industry participants to store and manage payment transaction data generated in Nigeria within the country.

The policy is designed to strengthen regulatory oversight, enhance data sovereignty and reduce the financial sector’s reliance on infrastructure outside Nigeria.

However, technology executives in the financial sector have raised concerns about the scale and complexity of the migration, saying the available timeframe may not be sufficient to complete the process.

For institutions operating complex banking and payment systems, data localisation involves more than simply moving databases.

It may require changes to cloud architecture, disaster-recovery systems, connectivity, cybersecurity controls and core technology infrastructure, while ensuring uninterrupted services for customers.

Chief Technology Officer at FCMB, Blessing Ehize, identified regulatory clarity as an immediate concern for the industry, particularly around which categories of data must be hosted on-premises and what can remain in hybrid-cloud environments.

“To bring payment data back on-premise, for the last three months, we’ve not been able to engage effectively with the Central Bank of Nigeria as the Committee of Bank CIOs to get clarity on these issues,” Ehize told delegates at the event.

He said banks need clearer guidance on the policy’s requirements, as well as a structured roadmap for implementation.

“There’s not been a meeting held to say, ‘This is what it means’ in terms of clarity. So it’s vague,” he noted.

Ehize said Nigerian financial institutions have the capacity to undertake the migration but need adequate time to plan and execute the process without creating unnecessary operational risks.

“We really have the capacity to do this as a country, but we just need to plan it and not rush the Nigerian way,” he added.

Deputy Managing Director of eTranzact, Hakeem Adeniji-Adele, also described the six-month timeframe as tight, citing the volume of data currently hosted on overseas cloud platforms.

“I believe it is quite short, simply because of the amount of load that needs to be moved,” Adeniji-Adele said.

He proposed a phased approach that would allow institutions to migrate compute and storage separately, rather than requiring them to move all workloads at the same time.

Adeniji-Adele acknowledged the CBN’s engagement with the fintech sector but said the scale and complexity of the migration required more time for institutions to comply effectively.

The concerns underscore the challenge of strengthening control over critical financial data while ensuring that digital services remain secure, resilient and reliable throughout the transition.

The data localisation drive is also expected to boost demand for local data centres, cloud services, connectivity and backup infrastructure as financial institutions shift more of their operations to domestic facilities.