Balogun Harold - Leading Commercial &amp; Corporate Law Firm

Closing Technology Mergers & Acquisitions in Nigeria

Acquiring high-growth technology companies in Africa presents an opportunity for scale-ups and strategic investors to acquire more customers, increase revenue and also become more attractive to trade buyers or public markets. Our work with firms in the tech industry...

April 4, 2022

New Rules for Operating a Fintech in Nigeria

Between 2020 & 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made significant changes to the legal and regulatory framework around the establishment and operation of Fintech companies in Nigeria. While a wave of reactions have trailed the recent changes by the CBN, we think

January 25, 2022

Buy Now Pay Later Offerings in Nigeria: Some Market Entry Considerations (Nigeria)

Africa presents an interesting proposition for point-of-sale financings commonly referred to as Buy Now Pay Later financing (BNPL). However, there are ..

January 10, 2022

Insights

Registering a Nigerian Venture Fund: Some Key Issues

Nigeria’s venture capital rules do not appear to have been designed to attract modern venture capital. That’s concerning because venture capital fund managers perform an ..

September 7, 2021

Insights

Twitter Suspension in Nigeria: Some Key Policy & Legal Considerations for Web Platforms

Nigeria has no legal or regulatory construct similar to Section 230 (c) (1) & (2)[1]. The implication is that, providers of interactive computer services (“Platforms”) will likely be treated by ..

June 16, 2021

Six Operational & Time-Critical Takeaways From Nigeria's Open Banking Regulations

Nigeria's Central Bank deserves some commendation for publishing a well thought-out Open Banking Framework. Here are 6 (six) compliance/operational and time-cri...

March 29, 2021

Why Would Nigerian Courts Disagree with the Nigerian Central Bank on Cryptocurrency Regulation?

One may disagree with the approach of the Central Bank of Nigeria to regulating cryptocurrencies but Nigerian courts are not likely disagree. Here are 3 reasons why

March 4, 2021

The Safeboda Data Privacy Breach Decision: Some Key Takeaways

The latest decision by the data privacy regulator in Uganda[1] (NITA-U) is instructive for technology companies in Nigeria, for the NITDA[2] and for data privacy regulators across Africa.

February 16, 2021

S.E.C. Crowdfunding or Venture Capital Financing - Which One Works?

Perhaps, one of the most important decisions you can make as a Nigerian founder/business owner is that decision around the type of investor from whom to raise money and ...

February 2, 2021

What are the advantages of joining a Fintech Sandbox?

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Draft Framework for Regulatory Sandbox Operations was issued on June 23rd, 2020, introducing a promising feature into the country’...

July 9, 2020

Nigeria’s New Sandbox for Fintech Companies & Banks: What Fintechs Need to Know

Nigeria’s Central Bank (CBN) has finalised plans to introduce a regulatory sandbox for Financial Technology companies (Fintechs) in Nigeria. With the newly proposed Fintech sandbox (CBN Fintech Sandbox/Sandbox)..

June 26, 2020

Designing a Fintech Compliance Strategy: Strategic Considerations for African Fintechs

We analysed data, facts and legislation surrounding 33[1] regulatory actions taken against financial technology (Fintech) companies by Fintech regulators across Europe, US..

June 14, 2020

Payment Service Fintech Companies: Competing Fairly with your Merchants?

Payment service fintech companies (PSPs)[1] in Nigeria could be at risk of legal and regulatory liability if they pivot to products or services which are in competition with ..

June 2, 2020

Has a Founders’ Agreement Lost its Value?

Here are some of things we have learnt. If you are looking for a partner to build a tech business, the contractual foundat...

May 28, 2020

Re: The CBN Directive to Nigerian Banks on the Publication of the List of Delinquent Debtors in the Dailies: Some Data Privacy Ramifications

Nigerian banks are entering a phase of increased regulatory supervision from both banking and non-banking regulators. In particular regard to data privacy compliance, commercial banks ..

May 18, 2020

The Methodology of a Useful Data Privacy Audit - Key Considerations for Nigerian Companies

We recently shared a Data Privacy Compliance update within our client network and would like to share a few points from the update, which is based on a recent data privacy audit that we conducted for a Nigerian company

February 28, 2020

Offshore Mergers & Acquisition Regulation in Nigeria: Some "Domestic Effect" Considerations

The technical ability to clearly determine whether a proposed Offshore Merger will have a Domestic Effect under Nigerian Competition law is now a key transaction imperative for deal makers and their counsel.

February 19, 2020

New Income Tax on Global Technology Companies in Nigeria

Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Alibaba, Netflix, Tencent and other global technology companies will now be subject to income tax in Nigeria. In its 2019 Finance Act ..

February 6, 2020

Legal Update

Financing Music & Entertainment in Nigeria: Some Strategic Considerations

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on July 1, 2019, issued the Modalities for the Implementation of the Creative Financing Industry Initiative (the “Modalities”).

February 5, 2020

RideHailing Business in Lagos: Some Business Considerations

The market for ridehailing in Lagos is huge but founders would need to come to terms with the intricacies of a fairly complex industry, especially in the light of the political and commercial interests of the Lagos State Government in the Transportation sector in Lagos State. Here are some key considerations

January 22, 2020