The Central Bank of Nigeria has unveiled an ambitious plan to bring about N2.83tn currently held outside the banking system into formal financial channels and expand financial inclusion by onboarding 50 million additional Nigerians by 2028.

The targets form part of the Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028 unveiled by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, on Monday in Abuja, as the apex bank seeks to deepen digital payments, strengthen trust in financial services, reduce cash dependence, and position Nigeria as a leading payments hub in Africa.

The target is coming a few months before Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, with the Independent National Electoral Commission scheduling the presidential and National Assembly polls for January 16, 2027, and governorship and state assembly elections for February 6, 2027, amid renewed concerns over cash-driven campaigns, vote-buying, and higher legal spending limits for candidates.

The launch brought together regulators, banks, fintech operators, telecommunications firms, development partners, and other stakeholders in the financial services ecosystem.

Cardoso said the initiative was not merely about technology or financial transactions but about creating economic opportunities, reducing poverty, and accelerating growth. According to him, efficient payment systems remain among the fastest ways to lift large numbers of people out of poverty.

“One of the fastest ways to take a large number of people out of poverty is through an efficient payments system. It’s through an efficient payment system. So let us not look at it lightly,” Cardoso said.

The governor described the Payments System Vision 2028 as a strategic roadmap that would shape how Nigerians transact, save, invest, trade, and participate in the digital economy over the next three years.

“Today, we unveil more than a payment strategy. We unveil a vision for how Nigerians will transact, trade, save, invest, and participate in an increasingly digital economy,” he said.

N2.83tn cash target

The new vision comes at a time when cash remains heavily concentrated outside the banking system despite years of financial inclusion efforts. Latest figures from the CBN’s money and credit statistics show that currency outside banks stood at N5.08tn in April 2026, representing about 90.03 per cent of the N5.65tn currency in circulation during the period.

Cardoso disclosed that the apex bank intends to reduce cash outside the banking system to less than 40 per cent of money in circulation by 2028. “I would like to see a situation where we will reduce cash outside the banking system to less than 40 per cent of money in circulation,” he said.

Using the April 2026 figures as a benchmark, achieving that target would imply reducing cash outside banks from N5.08tn to about N2.26tn, potentially returning roughly N2.83tn to the formal banking system.

Such a shift could significantly improve monetary policy transmission, increase banking sector liquidity, enhance financial intermediation, and strengthen lenders’ ability to support economic activity.

The effort comes as Nigeria prepares for the 2027 elections, when concerns over cash-intensive campaign activities and vote-buying are expected to place renewed focus on the amount of currency held outside formal financial channels.

The Governor of the CBN and members of the Monetary Policy Committee earlier warned that rising political and election-related spending ahead of the 2027 general elections could undermine the country’s disinflation gains and trigger fresh inflationary pressures. The warnings were contained in the personal statements of MPC members released by the apex bank.

At the launch of the Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028, the governor linked the target to broader efforts to build confidence in digital payments and reduce reliance on cash transactions. “Cash should no longer be king,” he said.

He recalled being concerned after watching a programme in which traders refused to accept cash payments due to concerns about the reliability of payment channels. “We need to do a lot more work to build trust and to ensure that people have no doubt that they are dealing with a strong and reliable payments system,” Cardoso said.

50 million new users

Alongside the cash target, the CBN is seeking to expand participation in the formal financial system dramatically. Cardoso said financial inclusion under the vision would rise to 95 per cent by 2028, bringing an estimated 50 million additional Nigerians into the banking and digital payments ecosystem.

“Under Vision 2028, I would like to see this reaching 95 per cent inclusion. That means 50 million more market women, farmers, and young people will have a bank account or wallet in their name, with their name and BVN protecting them,” he said.

The target represents one of the most ambitious financial inclusion drives undertaken by the apex bank in recent years and reflects the government’s broader efforts to formalise economic activity and expand access to financial services.

According to Cardoso, financial inclusion is not an end in itself but a tool for economic transformation. “The journey is to impact the lives of the poor. That’s part of it and a major part of it. The journey is to lift people out of poverty, and the journey is to have an impact on GDP,” he stated.

The governor added that a modern payment system was indispensable to economic growth, innovation, financial inclusion, and national competitiveness. The CBN governor said the new framework was designed to strengthen infrastructure, deepen inclusion, encourage innovation, improve resilience, and increase integration with regional and global payment systems.

He noted that payment systems had evolved beyond simple money transfer channels and had become strategic economic infrastructure. “In a modern economy, payment infrastructure is not simply a financial utility. It is a strategic national asset,” Cardoso said.

He explained that efficient payment systems reduce the cost of doing business, improve productivity, support trade, strengthen transparency, and broaden economic participation.

The vision also aims to help Nigeria take advantage of opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area, expanding digital commerce and increasingly interconnected global markets. “This is not merely about technology or transactions. It is about opportunity,” he said.

According to him, entrepreneurs, traders, and small businesses across the country stand to benefit from faster settlement systems, broader market access, and increased participation in regional and global commerce.

“For the entrepreneur in Aba, the trader in Zaria, the fashion designer in Ilesha, or the small business owner in Kano, efficient and interoperable payment systems can mean access to new markets, faster settlement of transactions, and greater participation in regional and global commerce,” Cardoso added.

Despite the ambitious targets, Cardoso stressed that the success of the programme would depend on implementation rather than policy declarations. “The success of PSV 2028 will not be measured by the quality of this document. It will be measured by execution,” he said.

He challenged regulators, banks, fintech firms, telecom operators, and other stakeholders to work together to ensure the vision translates into measurable economic outcomes. “As the Federal Government of Nigeria builds roads, schools, and hospitals, we here must also build the invisible roads that move money,” Cardoso said.

He added, “Vision 2028 is not a government project. It is a Nigerian project. Together, we will build a payments system that is fast, inclusive, secure, and proudly Nigerian.”

Providing further details of the framework, the CBN’s Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, Dr Muhammad Abdullahi, said the Payments System Vision 2028 was built around five strategic pillars. According to him, the pillars include payment infrastructure and interoperability, digital financial inclusion, innovation and emerging technologies, cross-border payments, and regulation and cybersecurity.

Abdullahi described modern payment systems as critical economic infrastructure that supports trade, investment, innovation, productivity, and financial inclusion. “Every successful payment represents more than a financial transaction. It enables commerce, supports enterprise, facilitates trade, connects markets, and creates opportunities for economic participation,” he said.

The deputy governor explained that the first pillar focuses on modernising payment infrastructure, strengthening interoperability among banks and fintechs, deploying open APIs, and expanding real-time payments. “Efficient payment infrastructure lowers transaction costs, improves business productivity, and enables firms of all sizes to participate competitively in the digital economy,” he stated.

The second pillar centres on financial inclusion, consumer protection, and financial literacy, while the third seeks to leverage emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, digital assets, and open banking.

The fourth pillar focuses on cross-border payments and integration with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System as well as the African Continental Free Trade Area framework.

According to Abdullahi, reducing payment friction across borders would strengthen trade, lower settlement costs, improve remittance efficiency, and position Nigeria as a regional settlement hub.

The fifth pillar emphasises regulation, cybersecurity, fraud prevention, and consumer trust. “No system scales without trust, and no trust exists without security,” he said.

In his opening remarks, the Director of Payments System Policy at the CBN, Musa Jimoh, traced the country’s payment transformation journey to 2007, when the apex bank launched the Payment System Vision 2020.

He recalled that Nigeria’s financial system at the time was heavily dependent on cash and had limited electronic payment infrastructure. “It started in 2007, when the Central Bank decided to set up a roadmap to modernise the payment system,” he said.

According to Jimoh, the CBN identified three major barriers to financial inclusion at the time: high banking costs, limited access to financial institutions, and stringent account-opening requirements.

To address the challenges, the bank introduced policies, including agent banking and the cashless policy. “Today, we are proud to announce that we have over two million agents spread across the country,” he said.

Jimoh said the growth of agent networks had expanded financial access while creating employment opportunities across the country.

Regulators back vision

The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Dr Emomotimi Agama, said collaboration among financial regulators would be critical to the success of the initiative.

“For us in the capital market, it’s delivery versus payment. Delivery speaks to securities and payment means having to pay the cash,” he said.

Agama argued that Nigeria had already become a global reference point in digital payments and urged stakeholders to tell the country’s story more effectively on the global stage.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr Aminu Maida, also endorsed the framework, describing it as an important step towards achieving the Federal Government’s goal of building a $1tn economy.

Maida noted that fraud and cybersecurity challenges increasingly cut across sectors and borders, making collaboration essential. “Collaboration has to be what guides us moving forward towards achieving that goal of a trillion-dollar economy,” he said.

He added that the NCC was expanding fibre infrastructure and broadband connectivity nationwide to support digital payments and financial inclusion.