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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is teaming up with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other stakeholders to create electronic invoicing guidelines, a move that’s expected to boost operations in Nigeria’s fintech landscape.
This development is part of NITDA’s efforts to promote financial inclusion and digital economy.
By developing these guidelines, NITDA and FIRS are taking significant steps towards creating a more transparent and efficient financial system in Nigeria.
NITDA DG, Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, made this disclosure at the 6th edition of the annual FirstBank FinTech Summit where he joined other key players in the ecosystem in a session titled: “Policy and Infrastructure: Navigating Financial Regulations for Fintech Innovations” held in Lagos
“As a regulator with a focus on facilitating financial inclusion, we need to strengthen unified regulations and policy-making, because if you make policies without having the implementers in the room, it will be difficult for them to implement, “ he averred.
He also elaborated on NITDA’s efforts to bridge the digital divide as an essential factor for financial inclusion, underscoring the launch of a National Digital Literacy Framework to integrate digital skills in formal education.
Highlighting the agency’s efforts at fostering digital literacy and cultivating talents, he disclosed that the agency has engaged in collaborations with the Ministry of Education in integrating digital literacy into curriculum and also, with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in training over 17,000 Youth Corp members annually.
He added that the initiative is expected to provide basic digital literacy to millions, and aims to engage artisans, market women, senior citizens, and others from the informal sectors.
Inuwa further addressed Nigeria’s data sovereignty issues, particularly regarding reliance on foreign cloud services. He noted that building in-country cloud capabilities is vital for national security and for empowering local FinTechs.
“Without operational sovereignty, we cannot fully control or secure our digital assets,” he stated, mentioning ongoing partnerships with hyperscale providers and local data centres to create cloud infrastructure within Nigeria.
He explained that the agency is working with other stakeholders in developing the cybersecurity architecture to achieve financial inclusion while asserting that infrastructures will be created, the unconnected will be connected and promoting digital literacy to foster trust on digital platforms.
Inuwa who called for increased collaboration among key players in the Fintech ecosystem to enhance financial literacy and promote financial inclusion for all citizens, noted that, NITDA’s regulatory approach which was based on a triple helix model, is not just about imposing standards but actively creating and supporting markets.
According to him, the Regulatory Intelligence Framework developed by the agency, created marketing values, enabling innovations, protecting consumers and effectively discharging services.
Inuwa noted that priority was given to collaborations with the ecosystem in meeting these deliverables.
“To achieve this, we came up with a way which we call the participatory framework or policy dialogue for any regulation. This is because at the heart of everything we do is co-designing and co-creation,” he said.
Speaking on working with the ecosystem, he noted that collaboration was instrumental in successfully implementing Nigeria’s cashless policy which the agency did in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“NITDA worked with CBN to come up with a cashless policy, which gave birth to the fintech industry we are talking about today.”
“This led to the banks to start upgrading their infrastructures, both hard and software, and the FinTech identified gaps and started coming up with solutions that can bridge the gaps left by the banks,” he added.
