{"id":3113,"date":"2026-08-13T15:50:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T15:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=3113"},"modified":"2026-08-13T16:27:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T16:27:31","slug":"cbn-invites-applications-for-second-regulatory-sandbox-cohort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=3113","title":{"rendered":"CBN invites applications for Second Regulatory Sandbox Cohort"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>*<strong><em>The Central Bank of Nigeria launches the second cohort of its Regulatory Sandbox Programme designed to support responsible innovation in Nigeria\u2019s financial sector, introduces two dedicated testing tracks covering virtual assets and data-enabled financial services<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect<\/p>\n<p>The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has launched the second cohort of its Regulatory Sandbox Programme.<\/p>\n<p>The CBN is inviting innovators, financial institutions, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), FinTechs, and technology companies to apply.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"uwKG68c0Vk\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=3121\">OAU celebrates Aina, JAMB Registrar, as \u2018Great Ife Professor\u2019 hits the ground running<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cOAU celebrates Aina, JAMB Registrar, as \u2018Great Ife Professor\u2019 hits the ground running\u201d \u2014 Consumer Experience Is A Top Priority\" src=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=3121&amp;embed=true#?secret=5s2C5hJFNg#?secret=uwKG68c0Vk\" data-secret=\"uwKG68c0Vk\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>ConsumerConnect<\/em> reports the banking sector regulator designed the programme to support responsible innovation in Nigeria\u2019s financial sector, introduces two dedicated testing tracks covering virtual assets and data-enabled financial services.<\/p>\n<p>The programme is said to be part of the Bank&#8217;s broader efforts at fostering an innovative, resilient and inclusive financial ecosystem while maintaining the safety, soundness and integrity of Nigeria\u2019s financial system.<\/p>\n<p>The first is the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) Track, which will support innovative solutions involving virtual assets, stablecoins, payments, settlements, custody, wallets and related financial infrastructure that require supervised live testing.<\/p>\n<p>Whereas the second is the Data-Enabled Financial Services (Non-VASP) Track, designed for innovations that use secure digital infrastructure and permission-based data sharing to improve financial inclusion, payments, credit, risk management, operational efficiency and consumer outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Hakama Sidi-Ali, Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department at CBN, in a statement, also explained the Regulatory Sandbox provides a controlled environment where eligible participants could test innovative financial products, services, business models, and technologies under the supervision of the Bankers&#8217; Bank.<\/p>\n<p>The Bank further stated the initiative allows the CBN and participating innovators to engage throughout the testing process.<\/p>\n<p>This, it noted, enables regulatory learning while promoting innovations that can benefit consumers and strengthen the wider financial system in Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>The CBN said that the launch of Cohort 2 reinforced its commitment to creating a transparent, proportionate, and risk-based regulatory environment that supports innovation without compromising monetary and financial stability.<\/p>\n<p>Insights generated through supervised testing will also help the regulator improve its understanding of emerging technologies and guide the development of appropriate regulatory and supervisory frameworks for Nigeria\u2019s evolving digital financial ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>According to the banking sector regulator, eligible organisations will be assessed, based on factors, including the level of innovation, readiness for controlled live testing, potential benefits to consumers and the market, governance structures, risk management capabilities and the suitability of their proposed testing plans.<\/p>\n<p>Successful applicants will conduct supervised testing within parameters agreed with the CBN.<\/p>\n<p>These will include safeguards covering consumer protection, operational resilience, cybersecurity and regulatory reporting.<\/p>\n<p>Participation in the Regulatory Sandbox does not constitute a licence, authorisation or approval to operate outside the approved testing parameters, the Bank said.<\/p>\n<p>The CBN announced that applications for Cohort 2 opened August 12, 2026, and closes August 31 this year.<\/p>\n<p>It, therefore, urged interested organisations to submit their applications through the CBN Regulatory Sandbox Portal at sandbox.cbn.gov.ng before the deadline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>*The Central Bank of Nigeria launches the second cohort of its Regulatory Sandbox Programme designed to support responsible innovation in Nigeria\u2019s financial sector, introduces two&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"CBN Headquarters, in Abuja, FCT","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_customify_content_layout":"","_customify_sidebar":"","_customify_page_header_display":"default","_customify_disable_header":"","_customify_disable_header_top":"","_customify_disable_header_main":"","_customify_disable_header_bottom":"","_customify_disable_page_title":"","_customify_disable_content_vertical_padding":"","_customify_disable_footer_top":"","_customify_disable_footer_main":"","_customify_disable_footer_bottom":"","_customify_breadcrumb_display":"","_customify_header_transparent_display":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights","category-markets","category-regulators"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CBN-Headquarters-Office-cc.png",672,360,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CBN-Headquarters-Office-cc-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CBN-Headquarters-Office-cc-300x161.png",300,161,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CBN-Headquarters-Office-cc.png",672,360,false],"large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CBN-Headquarters-Office-cc.png",672,360,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CBN-Headquarters-Office-cc.png",672,360,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CBN-Headquarters-Office-cc.png",672,360,false]},"author_info":{"info":["ConsumerConnect"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=20\" rel=\"category\">Highlights<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=4\" rel=\"category\">Markets<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=8\" rel=\"category\">Regulators<\/a>","tag_info":"Regulators","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3113"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3132,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3113\/revisions\/3132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}