By Abubakar Yunusa
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission(FCCPC )has approved five companies to operate as airtime and data lenders, following the suspension of such services by all major mobile network operators in Nigeria.
MTN and Airtel had last week announced the halt of airtime and data lending services.
Checks by this paper yesterday also confirmed that Globacom and T2, formerly known as 9mobile, have complied, making the decision industry-wide.
The FCCPC said the newly approved firms include Total Tim Nigeria Limited, Rane Interactive Medien CLS Limited, Mode NG Applications Limited, Cloud Interactive Associate Limited, and Coverage Broadband Limited.
It stated that the companies met all requirements under the Digital, Electronic, Online, or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations, 2025.
The telecom operators had cited compliance concerns with the new regulations as the reason for suspending their lending services.
However, the commission maintained that the regulation was introduced to ensure a fair, transparent and competitive digital lending ecosystem.
Speaking on the development, the Director of Corporate Affairs at the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, Ondaje Ijagwu, accused some telecom operators of breaching existing laws.
He said some operators were “engaging in exclusionary third-party technical arrangements in clear disobedience to the provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018.”
Ijagwu added that the regulation was designed to open up the market for both local and foreign players in line with free market principles.
He disclosed that when the framework commenced in July 2025, telecom operators were given an initial 90-day window to align their operations with the new rules.
According to him, the deadline was later extended to January 5, 2026, to allow further compliance.
“That opportunity was not utilised within the prescribed timeframe, specifically in the telecom sector,” he said.
“The compliance window was subsequently extended until 5 January 2026, providing additional time for alignment with applicable requirements. Despite that further extension, the necessary compliance steps were still not completed by the relevant operators.”
