It began as a murmur in the National Assembly, amplified by viral commentary: in terms of reach and reliability, certain fintech platforms have quietly become the most central banks in Nigerias informal economy. No one can dispute the facts: where outages crippled traditional banks on Marina, these digital operators-backed heavily by foreign capital-kept the wheels of commerce turning for the tailor, the artisan, and the market woman. This success in achieving financial inclusion deserves applause.
However, a success story does not exempt the infrastructure from strategic scrutiny. When a non-indigenous entity becomes the effective custodian of over 50 million users and trillions of naira in monthly transactions, we are no longer discussing mere technology we are discussing national critical infrastructure.
The heart of the concern is not hostility toward foreign investment, which remains vital for growth. The concern is one of strategic dependence and data sovereignty. Data, we are constantly reminded, is the new oil. By controlling the payment rails, a foreign-led platform gains the ability to map the economic heartbeat of Nigeria-knowing who pays whom, where the money clusters, and the granular details of consumer behaviour.
