The January 2026 Deadline Arrives for Digital Lenders

In Africa’s largest economy, the clock ran out. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) set January 5, 2026, as the hard deadline for all digital lenders to register under the new Digital Lending Regulations .

As of mid-April 2026, the FCCPC has begun enforcement actions, threatening operational restrictions and removal from app stores for non-compliant platforms. The new rules expand oversight beyond just loan apps to include "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) models and even airtime lending .

Nigeria has long been a hotspot for "loan sharks" who use shame as a weapon. The new regulations mandate strict transparency in interest calculations and ban the unethical practice of harassing a borrower's contacts.

The government, in coordination with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has operationalized a Digital Lending Apps (DLA) Directory on the CBN website. This directory allows any Nigerian citizen to verify whether an app is legally permitted to lend money before they download it