The Central Bank of Nigeria, in collaboration with the Financial Markets Dealers Association on Friday announced the introduction of the Nigerian Overnight Financing Rate (NOFR) as a new benchmark for the country’s money market.

The disclosure was contained in a press statement issued by the CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi-Ali.

According to the statement, the introduction of NOFR positions Nigeria alongside global benchmarks such as SOFR in the United States, SONIA in the United Kingdom, €STR in the Eurozone, and TONA in Japan, while also complementing Africa’s JIBAR benchmark in South Africa.

The apex bank explained that the new rate aligns Nigeria with global standards for short-term interest rate benchmarks and is expected to improve pricing efficiency in the money market

“NOFR was developed to align Nigeria with global best practices in short-term interest rate benchmarks.

It is expected to improve price discovery and transparency while promoting consistent pricing of money market instruments,” it added.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has clarified that it didn’t banned MTN, Glo, Airtel including Vitel Wireless from offering airtime borrowing and data advance services in Nigeria.

The Commission made the clarification in a statement on Friday, dismissing what it called a wave of misinformation, stating unequivocally that “those claims are incorrect,” stressing that “the Commission has not prohibited airtime borrowing or data advance services, and no directive was issued preventing consumers from accessing lawful telecom value-added services.”

The clarification comes amid growing public concern over alleged service disruptions and rising complaints in the telecom sector.

The FCCPC explained that its intervention in the space followed numerous consumer complaints involving opaque charges, unexplained deductions, aggressive recovery practices, poor disclosure standards, and inadequate accountability within segments of the digital lending and advance-services market.

To address these issues, the Commission introduced the DEON Consumer Lending Regulations in July 2025, aimed at curbing “the excesses of abusive service providers whose practices had generated persistent consumer harm and undermined confidence in the market.”

MTN Nigeria has announced the temporary suspension of its airtime and data credit service, Xtratime, in compliance with new regulatory requirements governing digital lending in the country.

The company disclosed this in a corporate notice filed with the Nigerian Exchange Group, NGX, on Thursday.

Xtratime allows subscribers to borrow airtime or data and repay on their next recharge, a service widely used by millions of Nigerians, particularly during periods of financial constraints.

In the notice signed by the Company Secretary, Uto Ukpanah, MTN said the suspension is necessary to align with the Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations, 2025.

Despite the suspension, MTN assured subscribers that alternative channels for purchasing airtime and data remain available, including banking applications and USSD platforms.