- The development comes after the levy was purportedly shelved after pushback from Nigerians.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has announced that it will proceed with the implementation of the contentious cybercrime levy.
The widely opposed controversial levy will see Nigerians pay 0.005 percent on all electronic transactions under the apex bank new guidelines for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
The announcement is contained in the bank’s recently released Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade, and Exchange Policy Guidelines for Fiscal Years 2024-2025.
The development comes after the levy was purportedly suspended after pushback from Nigerians.
The Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act of 2015, is aimed at strengthening the nation’s cyber security infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the percentage has been reduced from 0.5 percent earlier announced in May 2024 to 0.005 percent in the new guidelines.
CBN reiterated its commitment to mandating banks and other financial institutions deduct the levy from all electronic transactions.
The revenue generated from this levy is directed towards a cybersecurity fund, intended to support measures that safeguard Nigeria’s banking system from the growing threat of cyberattacks.
“The CBN shall continue to enforce the payment of the mandatory levy of 0.005 percent on all electronic transactions by banks and other financial institutions, by Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015″, the document said.
Recall that in a notice in May, the CBN mandated all banks in Nigeria to collect and remit a 0.5 percent cyber security levy to the office of the National Security Adviser
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