Nigerian Banks Urged to Pool Data for AI-Driven Intelligence, Beyond Capital Consolidation

Nigeria's banking sector has undergone two major recapitalization exercises, most recently concluding in March 2026, where 30 banks met new capital requirements. While these efforts have significantly strengthened balance sheets, the article argues that this focus on financial capital is an "old arithmetic" insufficient for the modern, AI-driven economy. The real competitive advantage in the next decade will come from data and predictive intelligence.

The core argument is that Nigerian banks, despite holding one of Africa's richest financial datasets via systems like the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and robust payment rails, are "partially blind." Each bank operates on its own slice of data, preventing a holistic view of customer behavior, fraud patterns, and creditworthiness across the entire system. This fragmented intelligence allows fraudsters to operate undetected across multiple institutions and limits banks' ability to accurately assess risk and opportunity.

The author advocates for a "consolidation of intelligence" through data pooling, rather than further mergers. This would involve sharing data for specific purposes under common standards, managed by a neutral custodian, while respecting customer trust and the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023. Precedents like credit bureaux and the CBN's open banking framework are cited as foundational steps towards this goal.

Such a move would enable Nigerian banks to leverage AI more effectively for predictions – identifying fraud, assessing creditworthiness for informal sector workers, and anticipating customer churn. This strategic shift from solely capital-based strength to data-driven intelligence is presented as critical for the long-term survival and competitiveness of Nigerian banks in an AI age, determining which institutions will thrive by 2035.