Faced with economic hurdles, the central bank of Nigeria will impose a 0.5% charge on all electronic transactions. The decision follows a heightened move to handle cyber threats across the nation.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced a new cybersecurity levy on domestic electronic transfers, striving to bolster the west African nation’s defenses against cyber threats.
In two weeks, all banks and mobile money operators across the nation will be required to charge a 0.5% levy on the value of each transaction.
The funds generated from this levy will be managed by the office of the National Security Adviser and used to strengthen cybersecurity infrastructure and capabilities, according to the Central Bank. The bank added that a non-compliance with the new regulation will result in a penalty of 2% of the institution’s annual turnover.
The move comes amid a growing regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrency activity in Nigeria which officials have attributed the nation’s currency weakness, with the naira reaching record lows against the US dollar, to the rise of crypto transactions.
Let’s recall that two months ago, the Nigerian government filed charges against Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange alongside two of its executives for alleged tax evasion and money laundering, charges the company is still contesting.
The introduction of the cybersecurity levy follows the implementation of processing fees for cash deposits exceeding specific thresholds. Individuals depositing 500,000 naira or more will incur a 2% fee, while corporate transactions exceeding 3 million naira will be subject to a 3% fee.
