Nigeria’s telecommunications and digital finance sectors are still waiting on an answer to a basic question: who regulates the country’s digital credit market, and can two agencies keep disagreeing about it without consequence?
Capital inflows into Nigeria’s telecoms sector slowed in the first quarter of 2026, and telecoms investment advisers have cited the standoff between the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the telecom industry over airtime credit as a contributing factor in the slowdown. For investors, the timeline matters more than the outcome.
The dispute began in April, when major operators suspended airtime and data-credit products, services that let an estimated 40 million subscribers borrow a few hundred naira in airtime against their next recharge, after the FCCPC demanded compliance with its Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-traditional Consumer Lending Regulations.
The rules were designed to regulate predatory digital loan apps but were extended to cover telecom-based credit, prompting
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