Nigeria’s central bank plans to charge a levy on domestic money transfers to help fund cybersecurity, it said.
In a circular published late on Monday, the central bank told all banks and mobile money operators to charge 0.5% of the value of electronic transfers as a cybersecurity levy, starting in two weeks.
The bank said the funds will managed by the country’s security adviser’s office and that non-compliance will attract a charge of 2% of the institution’s annual turnover.
The new levy follows a clampdown on cryptocurrency, which officials have blamed for Nigeria’s currency weakness. The naira has hit record lows due to dollar shortages as crypto transactions in the country have flourished.
In March, Nigeria charged Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange and two of its executives, facing separate trials on tax evasion and money laundering, which the company is challenging.
Binance head of financial crime compliance, Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen, is being held in detention in Nigeria.
Last month, commercial banks introduced a 2% processing fee for cash deposits from 500,000 naira and above for individuals and a 3% processing fee for corporate transactions from three million naira and above.
