In its new budgetary guidelines for 2024–2025, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lowered the cybersecurity levy on electronic transactions from 0.5 percent to 0.005 percent. This decrease comes after the contentious levy’s introduction earlier in the year, to which the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, and bank customers all objected.
It stated: “The CBN shall continue to enforce the payment of the mandatory levy of 0.005 per cent on all electronic transactions by banks and other financial institutions, by the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015.”
The National Cybersecurity Fund will be supported by the levy, which was imposed under the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015 and revised in 2024. The fund is managed by the Office of the National Security Adviser. All electronic transactions carried out by commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, among others, will be subject to a 0.005 percent fee.
According to a directive released by the CBN on Wednesday, some transactions—such as salary payments, loan disbursements and repayments, and transfers between the same bank accounts or banks for the same client—will not be subject to the fee.
Interbank transfers, cheque clearing and settlement, Letters of Credit, and transactions between banks and the CBN are also excluded, BrandSpur banking and finance news reports.
Due to widespread demonstrations earlier in May, President Bola Tinubu ordered a suspension and review of the levy; the House of Representatives also urged that it be removed immediately.
The CBN however declared that, as part of its monetary and exchange strategy for the upcoming fiscal years, it will maintain the charge at the updated rate in spite of the criticism.
