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Commission distances itself from claims of onboarding nine fintech operators, says airtime credit market is ₦300–400 billion, not ₦3 trillion.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has officially refuted widespread media reports claiming it secured presidential approval from President Bola Tinubu to restructure Nigeria’s airtime credit market.
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The commission stated it is completely unaware of and detached from the assertions regarding an overhaul or the onboarding of nine new local financial technology operators.
In a statement, the commission said it had no knowledge of the alleged plan and was not part of any process said to be opening the sector to nine fintech firms.
The Denied Narrative
The clarification follows widespread media reports suggesting that President Tinubu had approved a restructuring of the airtime credit ecosystem under the administration’s “Nigeria First” policy.
The reports also claimed the move would allow new players to compete in a market long dominated by telecom operators and their existing partners.
Reports circulated by several national newspapers suggested that under an administration policy titled the “Nigeria First Technology Policy,” the presidency sought to break a long-standing monopoly in a market falsely valued at ₦3 trillion annually.
The reports alleged that the FCCPC had submitted the names of nine specific local fintech firms to step into the digital lending and airtime credit ecosystem to halt capital flight.
FCCPC’s Response
The FCCPC, through its Director of Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu, dismissed the erroneous list of nine companies and clarified that actual industry estimates for the airtime credit and digital lending space are significantly lower, ranging between ₦300 billion and ₦400 billion annually.
The companies mentioned in the reports included:
- Technotrends Platforms Nigeria Limited
- Total Tim Nigeria Limited
- Fonyou Technologies Nigeria Limited
- Rane Interactive Medien CLS Limited
- MRS Innovation Nigeria Limited
- Mode NG Applications Nigeria Limited
- ERL Telecoms Service Limited
- Cloud Interactive Associate Limited
- Coverage Broadband Limited
Market Size Clarification
Some of the publications further suggested that the reform could unlock a market valued at approximately ₦3 trillion annually. However, industry estimates generally place the size of Nigeria’s airtime credit and related digital lending space at between ₦300 billion and ₦400 billion—a significant downward revision from the figures cited in the initial reports.
No Involvement in Any Approval Process
The FCCPC dismissed the entire narrative, insisting it was not involved in any approval process or regulatory announcement linked to the claims.
