The Federal Government via the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission is projected to increase regulations for the digital lending space in 2024.

The regulations will improve loan recovery methods in the country against the backdrop of rising default rates. This was disclosed on Television Continental by the commission’s Chief Executive Officer, Babatunde Irukera. 

He disclosed that despite the reduced rate of harassment in the sector by FCCPC, there was still a high level of default from Nigerians.

He said, “One of the big issues that we are seeing is that there is now a significant level of loan default because people are not able to use these unethical and inappropriate loan recovery mechanisms and I am insistent that you cannot say to me that the only language Nigerians understand is to abuse them. No, I disagree.

“We must necessarily do the work no matter how hard it is to find a more sensible way to recover loans because I also agree that if these digital money lenders are unable to recover their loans and drop out of the market, it is a consumer protection problem because of those who need those types of short-term unsecured lending.

“So, we have to find the balance, and some of the regulations that will come out in 2024 will be a broader approach to responsible borrowing and lending by individuals and corporations. I am hopeful that the future of what we’re building is that even school landlords can report to a centralised credit system about the conduct of tenants, students, and parents so that we can know each person’s level of fiscal responsibility or credit worthiness.”

The FCCPC recently revealed that it had reduced harassment and defamatory messages in the sector by about 80 per cent.

Mr Irukera once stated that though the country was struggling with digital lending, it was not alone. 

He said, “India, Kenya, Brazil, Ghana, and Uganda are still struggling in digital lending. Some of these countries are taking lessons from what we have done.”