NITDA DG Kashifu Inuwa says Nigeria’s banks must focus on AI, RegTech, and cyber resilience to build digital trust and stay competitive.
NITDA says the future growth of Nigeria’s banking industry will depend less on capital accumulation and more on building digital trust with artificial intelligence, RegTech, and cyber resilience.
Kashifu Inuwa, Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, made the point during a panel session titled “The Efficiency Frontier, AI, RegTech and Cyber Resilience” at the Future of Banking Nigeria Summit organised by CNBC Africa in Lagos.
Inuwa said the sector has moved into a new phase where technology resilience and customer trust are now central to competitiveness. He pointed to major industry milestones, including the 2005 banking consolidation, the 2009 banking reforms, and the ongoing recapitalisation exercise.
He argued that the problem has shifted from raising capital to protecting, preserving, and growing it in a digital economy. With more customers using mobile apps, USSD, and online banking as their main touchpoints, he said banks need uninterrupted service delivery and stronger cybersecurity controls.
Inuwa described artificial intelligence as a strategic technology that can improve productivity, strengthen decision-making, increase revenue, and enable more personalised financial services. He also highlighted regulatory technology, meaning software that automates compliance tasks like monitoring transactions and generating reports, as a way to reduce compliance costs and improve transparency and governance.
He added that regulators need to adapt faster, since technology moves quicker than traditional rulemaking. Inuwa also called for closer collaboration among regulators and industry players, including fintechs, to support safer digital financial services and expand access to finance, especially for SMEs.
Nigeria’s banks are facing more digital risk as more transactions shift to apps and online channels. That raises the cost of outages, fraud, and data breaches.
If banks and regulators adopt AI tools, stronger cyber resilience practices, and modern compliance systems, it could improve customer confidence and make digital lending and SME credit decisions faster and more consistent.
Primary Source: Nairametrics
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