Banking
WASPAN Seeks Court Order to Stop FCCPC’s Digital Lending Rules Pending Appeal
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN) has asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to suspend the enforcement of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s (FCCPC) Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending (DEON) Regulations 2025 pending the determination of its appeal against an earlier judgment.
The application follows the dismissal of WASPAN’s substantive suit challenging the regulations, although the court made significant pronouncements on the regulatory responsibilities of the FCCPC and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa had ruled that the FCCPC possesses powers under Sections 104, 105, 106, and 163 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act to investigate anti-competitive conduct, protect consumers, and issue regulations.
The court also held that there was no conflict between the FCCPC Act and the Nigerian Communications Act, affirming that while the FCCPC oversees competition and consumer protection, the NCC remains the statutory regulator responsible for licensing telecommunications operators.
However, the judge clarified that “the FCCPC lacks the power to issue telecommunications licences,” adding that “nothing in the DEON Regulations creates a telecommunication licensing.”
Despite the ruling, WASPAN has filed a notice of appeal and is seeking an injunction to preserve the status quo pending the outcome of the appellate process.
In its Motion on Notice, the association asked the court for “an order of injunction restraining the Defendant whether by itself, officers, employees, agents or such other persons howsoever named from enforcing, implementing and/or otherwise giving effect to the enforcement and/or implementation of the Digital, Electronic, Online, or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations 2025” pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.
WASPAN also requested an order preventing the FCCPC from interfering with services provided by its members under the disputed regulations.
Specifically, it sought an order restraining the commission “from taking any steps towards interfering with or preventing the Plaintiff’s members from providing or continuing to provide or deploy any services or product governed by the Digital, Electronic, Online, or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations 2025.”
In addition, the association urged the court to restrain the FCCPC “from imposing any sanction, penalty, punishment or fines on the Plaintiff’s members” over any alleged non-compliance with the regulations while the appeal is pending.
According to WASPAN, the interim reliefs are necessary to preserve the subject matter of the appeal and prevent actions that could render the appellate proceedings ineffective.
Business Post reports that the latest application extends the legal battle over the FCCPC’s DEON Regulations and sets the stage for the Court of Appeal to further clarify the scope of the commission’s regulatory authority in Nigeria’s digital lending and telecommunications sectors.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Sewa Capital Investment, an investment banking and financial advisory firm focused on supporting high-growth businesses across Africa, has made a strategic investment in Mathesis Analytics, a Nigerian financial technology company providing Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered credit decisioning infrastructure.
The investment is expected to support Mathesis Analytics’ expansion drive for its AI-powered credit infrastructure in Nigeria.
Currently, Nigerian lenders face a critical structural gap: the fragmentation of verifiable consumer data makes it difficult to accurately price risk at scale. Mathesis directly addresses this bottleneck by aggregating disparate transactional and behavioural data into a real-time measure of creditworthiness.
The investment will support product development, institutional integrations, expansion of Mathesis’ lender network, and the strengthening of its data and technology infrastructure, a statement from the fintech firm stated.
By embedding this infrastructure, financial institutions can expand underwriting capacity, support more accurate risk-based lending decisions, and reach new market segments without compromising established risk thresholds.
For Mathesis Analytics, this investment represents an important milestone in its strategy to build Africa’s next-generation credit infrastructure to drive true financial inclusion.
Mathesis has already supported more than 8 million loans for over 2 million unique borrowers in Nigeria, providing a substantial operating base from which to deepen institutional adoption and expand into additional markets.
The company will leverage Sewa Capital’s backing to accelerate the expansion of its institutional footprint.
“At Sewa Capital, we are interested in businesses building the infrastructure that enables African economies to allocate capital more efficiently and inclusively.
“Mathesis Analytics is addressing a fundamental constraint in credit markets: the information gap that limits lenders’ ability to assess risk confidently.
“Its technology has the potential to expand responsible access to credit in Nigeria and, over time, across Africa. We are pleased to support the team through its next phase of growth,” the Managing Director of Sewa Capital, Ms Angela Jide-Jones, commented.
The chief executive of Mathesis Analytics, Mr Winston Osuchukwu, in his reaction, said, “Credit inclusion begins with information visibility.
“Partnering with Sewa Capital accelerates the rollout of our infrastructure; equipping a wider network of lenders with the capabilities required to accurately evaluate risk and ultimately deliver credit services to previously excluded populations across the continent.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Eligible innovators, financial institutions, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), financial technology (fintech) companies, and technology firms have been invited to apply for the second cohort of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Regulatory Sandbox Programme.
A statement signed by the acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department of the apex bank, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed that entries opened on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, and will close on Monday, August 31, 2026.
Cohort 2 of the initiative introduces two dedicated testing tracks to support emerging technologies with the potential to strengthen Nigeria’s financial system while upholding high standards of consumer protection, financial stability, and market integrity.
According to the central bank, the two tracks are VASP and Data-Enabled Financial Services (Non-VASP).
VASP track is to support innovative virtual asset, stablecoin, payment, settlement, custody, wallet, and related financial infrastructure solutions that require supervised live testing, while the non-VASP track supports innovations that leverage secure digital infrastructure and permission-based data sharing to improve financial inclusion, payments, credit, risk management, operational efficiency, and consumer outcomes.
The CBN Regulatory Sandbox provides a controlled environment in which eligible participants may test innovative financial products, services, business models, and enabling technologies under the supervision of the CBN.
The programme enables the CBN and innovators to engage constructively throughout the testing process, supporting regulatory learning while encouraging responsible innovation that benefits consumers and the wider financial system.
Eligible organisations whose proposed innovations fall within the programme’s scope are encouraged to apply.
Applications will be assessed based on the level of innovation, readiness for controlled live testing, potential consumer or market benefit, governance arrangements, risk management capability, and the suitability of the proposed testing plan.
Successful participants will undertake supervised testing within clearly defined parameters agreed with the CBN, including appropriate safeguards for consumer protection, operational resilience, cybersecurity, and regulatory reporting.
The central bank emphasised that participation in the scheme does not constitute a licence, authorisation, or approval to operate outside the approved testing parameters.
It noted that the Sandbox is intended to facilitate responsible experimentation, strengthen regulatory engagement, and support evidence-based policy development in line with the CBN’s statutory mandate.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The international spending limit on the GTBank Naira card has been increased by the financial institution to $40,000.
This information was revealed by the lender in an email to customers on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.
The banking subsidiary of GTCO Plc disclosed that the new offshore spending limit is for a quarter.
This development comes as the Nigerian foreign exchange (FX) market is witnessing stability against the United States Dollar.
The forex volatility experienced a few years ago has eased, allowing companies and others to plan within a reasonable exchange rate band.
“The Dollar limit on your GTBank Naira Card is now $40,000 quarterly,” the tier-1 commercial bank said in the message sighted by Business Post.
Improvement in forex liquidity in the domestic FX ecosystem has allowed Nigerians to use their local cards to complete financial transactions on foreign platforms, which was not possible a few years ago because of Dollar scarcity and arbitrage.
At the official market on Tuesday, the exchange rate closed at N1,364/$1. It was exchanged at N1,367/$1 at the GTBank FX desk and N1,395/$1 at the parallel market.
