The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has taken a significant step toward organizing oversight of the country’s fast expanding digital finance sector, announcing the launch of Cohort 2 of its Regulatory Sandbox Programme. The move opens the door for virtual asset operators, fintech companies, financial institutions, and technology firms to apply for a controlled testing environment supervised directly by the apex bank.
The CBN confirmed on Tuesday that applications for this second cohort will open on August 12 and close on August 31, giving eligible organizations roughly three weeks to submit proposals through the CBN Regulatory Sandbox Portal at sandbox.cbn.gov.ng.
The announcement was made in a statement issued by the Acting Director of the Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department, Hakama Sidi Ali, who confirmed that the bank has commenced Cohort 2 and is inviting eligible innovators, financial institutions, Virtual Asset Service Providers, fintechs, and technology companies to take part.
What sets this cohort apart from the CBN’s first sandbox round is the introduction of two distinct testing tracks, designed to reflect the different kinds of innovation now shaping Nigeria’s financial system. The first is the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) Track, which will accommodate solutions built around virtual assets, stablecoins, payments, settlement, custody, wallets, and other related financial infrastructure that require supervised, real world testing.
The second is the Data Enabled Financial Services Track, aimed at innovations that rely on secure digital infrastructure and permission based data sharing to improve financial inclusion, payments, credit access, risk management, and overall consumer outcomes.
Organizations admitted into the programme will not automatically be licensed to operate. The CBN was explicit on this point, stating that participation in the Regulatory Sandbox does not constitute a licence, authorisation, or approval to operate outside the approved testing parameters. Instead, successful applicants will run supervised trials within boundaries agreed upon with the bank, subject to safeguards covering consumer protection, operational resilience, cybersecurity, and regulatory reporting.
The CBN framed the initiative as part of a broader commitment to building what it described as a transparent, proportionate, and risk based regulatory environment that fosters innovation while preserving monetary and financial stability. According to the bank, the initiative is also expected to sharpen its own understanding of emerging technologies, feeding directly into how future regulatory and supervisory frameworks are shaped for Nigeria’s evolving digital economy.
Musa Jimoh, Director of the CBN’s Payments System Policy Department, noted that the pace of financial innovation is reshaping how individuals and businesses access financial services, and added that the sandbox built in partnership with technology firm EMTECH gives regulators and innovators a structured space to test new solutions while keeping consumer and system wide safeguards firmly in place.
The launch follows President Bola Tinubu’s recent signing of an Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, which established a CBN chaired council to harmonize oversight of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets across government agencies underscoring the pace at which Nigeria is moving to formalize regulation of its digital finance economy.
