The Central Bank of Nigeria has launched applications for the second cohort of its Regulatory Sandbox Programme today, 12 August 2026, introducing two dedicated testing tracks that directly reflect Nigeria’s evolving financial technology landscape — one for virtual asset service providers and a second for data-driven financial services companies. Applications close on 31 August 2026, giving eligible organisations less than three weeks to submit.
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What the second cohort covers
The first cohort of the CBN Regulatory Sandbox, which ran in 2024, focused broadly on fintech innovation. Cohort 2 is more structurally defined. The Virtual Asset Service Provider Track will accommodate companies developing products involving virtual assets, stablecoins, payments, settlement infrastructure, custody arrangements, digital wallets, and related financial services that require supervised live testing before they can be commercially deployed.
The Data-Enabled Financial Services Track — which explicitly excludes VASPs — is designed for companies using secure digital infrastructure and permission-based data sharing to develop new approaches to credit access, payments, risk management, operational efficiency, and consumer financial outcomes. This track is particularly relevant for fintechs building alternative credit assessment tools, embedded finance products, and financial inclusion solutions that depend on transaction data and digital identity infrastructure.
Musa Jimoh, Director of the CBN’s Payments System Policy Department, described the rapid pace of financial innovation as fundamentally changing how individuals and businesses access financial services — and said the sandbox, powered by EMTECH as technology partner, provides the structured environment that both regulators and innovators need to test new solutions without exposing consumers or the broader financial system to unmanaged risk.
A regulatory sandbox does not tell a company it can operate. It tells a company it can test — and the test determines whether the product is safe enough and valuable enough to be authorised. For Nigeria’s fintech sector, that distinction matters enormously.
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Why this moment is significant
The launch of Cohort 2 comes six weeks after President Tinubu signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, which established the CBN-led Virtual Asset Council and directed the creation of a harmonised regulatory framework for the digital asset industry within 30 days. The sandbox’s VASP track is the CBN’s operational response to that directive — creating a supervised environment within which virtual asset companies can begin demonstrating the governance, risk management, and consumer protection standards that will determine eligibility for permanent licensing.
For the thousands of Nigerian businesses and entrepreneurs already using crypto, stablecoins, and digital wallets for cross-border trade, payments, and savings, the CBN’s willingness to engage with the sector through a structured testing framework rather than blanket prohibition represents a significant shift in posture — one that, if sustained through the licensing process, could formalise and strengthen an activity that is already deeply embedded in Nigerian commercial life.
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What it means for SMEs in the fintech and digital economy
For Nigerian fintech startups and technology companies building financial products, the Cohort 2 sandbox represents a concrete pathway to regulatory engagement — and potentially to the market access that comes with CBN recognition. A company that successfully tests a stablecoin payment solution for SME cross-border trade, or a data-driven credit product for informal merchants, within the sandbox’s controlled environment, emerges with both regulatory credibility and product validation.
Nigeria’s fintech sector is home to five of Africa’s eight unicorns. The question the CBN sandbox is answering is not whether the sector can innovate — it demonstrably can. The question is whether the regulatory infrastructure around it can keep pace with the innovation without either suppressing it or abandoning its responsibility to consumers and the financial system.
Eligible organisations can apply through the CBN’s official portal. The bank stressed that participation in the sandbox does not constitute a licence or authorisation to operate as a financial institution, and that successful applicants will conduct supervised testing within parameters agreed with the CBN.
