Nigeria has approached the World Bank for a fresh $10.50m loan to enhance the Central Bank of Nigeria’s technical capacity and modernise the country’s domestic payment infrastructure.
According to information exclusively obtained from the World Bank website on Thursday by The PUNCH, the proposed CBN Technical Assistance Facility seeks to support integrating innovative technologies and data science into the CBN’s supervisory processes.
This is expected to help the apex bank tackle long-standing and emerging challenges in Nigeria’s rapidly evolving financial landscape while improving the domestic payment infrastructure for remittances.
The project, currently at the concept review stage, will focus on three key areas. Firstly, it aims to strengthen the CBN’s institutional capacity to keep pace with technological advancements through a robust governance framework, expert advisory support, peer-to-peer central bank exchanges, and modernisation of the CBN’s internal processes to align with the digital era.
Secondly, it will enhance the CBN’s supervisory capacity through technology and data improvements. This involves funding modern technical solutions, including Supervisory Technology systems, to improve data accuracy, operational efficiency, and risk-based supervision.
Thirdly, it aims to modernise domestic payment systems for remittances to improve their safety and reliability.
