Economy
Financial firms lead way on defining appropriate use of customer data-WEF
The World Economic Forum has reported that a group of senior financial services industry executives from firms including HSBC, Allianz, and Ant Financial, along with public sector and civil society leaders from Bank of Canada, Australian Securities and Investment Commission, IMF and University of Oxford, working with the World Economic Forum, have published principles for the appropriate use of customer data in Financial Services. The principles provide goalposts for how banking, insurance and financial technology companies may approach questions around appropriateness, fairness, and transparency as they increasingly rely on the collection and use of customer data for business purposes. Policy makers can reference the principles as they continue to shape policy and regulation for the use of data.
According to the report members of the Financial Services industry aligned on global industry-wide principles on the collection and use of customer data, the World Economic Forum. The principles focus on control, security, personalisation, advanced analytics and portability and demonstrate the feasibility of achieving high-level consensus on customer data collection and use globally. The principles the report said were developed in response to concerns about fragmentation among customer data frameworks globally as a threat to data interoperability. Senior banking executives and public sector leaders will explore broader alignment with the global principles at a Forum organised meeting on the occasion of the IMF/World Bank Group Annual Meetings in Bali next week
According to Matthew Blake, Head of the Forum’s Financial and Monetary Systems Initiative “an uncoordinated proliferation of global data frameworks may prove counterproductive in the long run, resulting in further regulatory fragmentation with adverse knock-on effects for innovation and new business formation. This is why the stakeholders convened by the Forum identified a need for global principles.”
It said “companies should be clear about their use of customer data, attain customer agreement to their customer data policies and, where appropriate, seek consent for specific uses; companies should be held responsible and accountable for data security; companies should be able to create individual customer-level profiles that allow them to provide differentiated customer services; companies should be able to comprehensively test, validate and explain their use of data analytics and models to customers and companies should, where appropriate, allow customers to access, download, transfer and/or permit third parties to manage data about them.” The principles were presented in the White Paper The Appropriate use of customer data in financial services which the Forum published in collaboration with Oliver Wyman.
The report said that the rapidly growing significance of data in Financial Services provides both the industry and policy makers with tremendous opportunities as well as serious challenges. The role of data thus features prominently on the program of the Annual Meeting of the IMF/ World Bank Group from October 12-14 in Bali, Indonesia. The Forum will complement these discussions through its principles work and convene senior leaders from banks, finance ministries and central banks to discuss how to translate the principles into business practice and policy.
“This is best achieved by combining public regulation with private standards that represent the collective view of best practice and then buttressing them with a series of hard incentives that foster adoption and adherence,” says Mark Carney, Chairman of the G20’s Financial Stability Board and Governor of the Bank of England in the Forum White Paper. If the exchange of data for better services is to be a repeating win-win game, it is necessary to ensure that short-term gains do not generate new long-term risks or a general loss of trust between financial intermediaries and their customers,” said Carlos Torres Vila, CEO of BBVA and a contributor to the White Paper.
“Recent data breaches at large organisations, along with increasingly pertinent questions of trust around how customer data is being used or shared, have highlighted the urgency to review and define the appropriate use of customer data in financial services. The existing frameworks (e.g., GDPR, California) are necessary, yet insufficient. Implementing a shared set of principals will require a lot of work across the industry – and failing to do so could bring consequences ranging from overexposure to risk via in-activity to the stifling of innovation via overzealous regulation,” said Ted Moynihan, Global Head of Financial Services at Oliver Wyman. The Appropriate Use of Customer Data in Financial Services is the result of multiple senior leadership discussions and 50+ expert interviews with executives from incumbent financial institutions, leading financially-focused technology firms, and public sector and civil society organisations. The report presents principles addressing control, security, personalisation, advanced analytics, and portability aspects of the collection and use of customer data by financial institutions and fintechs.
The principles provide goalposts for how banking, insurance and financial technology companies may approach questions around appropriateness, fairness, and transparency as they increasingly rely on the collection and use of customer data in their evolving business models. Policy makers can reference the principles as they continue to shape policy and regulation for the use of data. The Forum stakeholders have aligned on a set of global principles through a series of roundtable discussions and interviews with industry executives and experts across multiple regions, thus demonstrating the feasibility of achieving high-level consensus on customer data collection and use practices globally. In addition to the principles, the White Paper also offers a roadmap for how both public and private sector stakeholders can align with those principles.
The Arab Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Program and the Federal Republic of Nigeria formalized a partnership with the signing of the AATB Membership Agreement, officially welcoming Nigeria as the Program’s newest member country. The signing ceremony took place in Abuja on the sidelines of the 5th AATB Board of Governors Meeting, hosted by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The Membership Agreement was signed by Eng. Adeeb Y. Al Aama, the CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) and AATB Program Secretary General, and H.E. Mr. Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Agreement will provide a strategic and operational framework to support Nigeria’s efforts in trade competitiveness, promote export diversification, strengthen priority value chains, and advance capacity-building efforts in line with national development priorities. Areas of collaboration will include trade promotion, agribusiness modernization, SME development, businessmen missions, trade facilitation, logistics efficiency, and digital trade readiness.
The Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, called for deeper trade collaboration between African and Arab nations, stressing the importance of value-added Agribusiness and industrial partnerships for regional growth. Speaking in Abuja at the Agribusiness Matchmaking Forum ahead of the AATB Board of Governors Meeting, the Minister said the shifting global economy makes it essential for African and Arab nations to rely more on regional cooperation, investment and shared markets.
He highlighted projections showing Arab-Africa trade could grow by more than US$37 billion in the next three years and urged partners to prioritize value addition rather than raw commodity exports. He noted that Nigeria’s growing industrial base and upcoming National Single Window reforms will support efficiency, investment and private-sector expansion.
“This is a moment to turn opportunity into action”, he said. “By working together, we can build stronger value chains, create jobs and support prosperity across our regions”, Edun emphasized. “As African and Arab nations embark on this journey of deeper trade collaboration, the potential for growth and development is vast. With a shared vision and commitment to value-added partnerships, we can unlock new opportunities, drive economic growth, and create a brighter future for our people.”
Speaking during the event, Eng. Adeeb Y. Al Aama, Chief Executive Officer of ITFC and Secretary General of the AATB Program, stated: “We are pleased to welcome Nigeria to be part of the AATB Program. Nigeria stands as one of Africa’s most dynamic and resilient economies in Africa, with a rapidly expanding private sector and strong potential across agribusiness, energy, manufacturing, and digital industries. Through this Membership Agreement, we look forward to collaborating closely with Nigerian institutions to strengthen value chains, expand regional market access, enhance trade finance and investment opportunities, and support the country’s development priorities.”
The signing of this Agreement underscores AATB’s continued engagement with African countries and its evolving portfolio of programs supporting trade and investment. In recent years, AATB has worked on initiatives across agribusiness, textiles, logistics, digital trade, export readiness under the AfCFTA framework, and other regional initiatives such as the Common African Agro-Parks (CAAPs) Programme.
With Nigeria’s accession, the AATB Program extends it’s presence in the region and adds a key partner working toward advancing trade-led development and fostering inclusive economic growth.
Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), a key fiscal document that outlines Nigeria’s revenue expectations, macroeconomic assumptions, and spending priorities for the next three years. The approval followed Wednesday’s FEC meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja. The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu made this known after the meeting.
The Minister said the Federal Government is projecting a total revenue inflow of N34.33 trillion in 2026, including N4.98 trillion expected from government-owned enterprises. Bagudu said that the projected revenue is N6.55 trillion lower than earlier estimates, adding that federal allocations are expected to drop by about N9.4 trillion, representing a 16% decline compared to the 2025 budget.
He said that statutory transfers are expected to amount to about N3 trillion within the same fiscal year. On macroeconomic assumptions, FEC adopted an oil production benchmark of 2.6 million barrels per day (mbpd) for 2026, although a more conservative 1.8 mbpd will be used for budgeting purposes. An oil price benchmark of $64 per barrel and an exchange rate of N1,512 per dollar were also approved.
Bagudu said the exchange rate assumption reflects projections tied to economic and political developments ahead of the 2027 general elections. He said the exchange rate assumption took into account the fiscal outlook ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The minister said that all the parameters were based on macroeconomic analysis by the Budget Office and other relevant agencies. Bagudu said FEC also reviewed comments from cabinet members before approving the Medium-Term Fiscal Expenditure Ceiling (MFTEC), which sets expenditure limits. Earlier, the Senate approved the external borrowing plan of $21.5 billion presented by President Tinubu for consideration The loans, according to the Senate, were part of the MTEF and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) for the 2025 budget.
The spot rate on Nigerian Treasury bills has been increased by 146 basis points by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) following tight subscription levels at the main auction on Wednesday. The spot rate on Treasury bills with one-year maturity has now surpassed Nigeria’s 16.05% inflation by 145 basis points following a recent decision to keep the policy rate at 27%.
The Apex Bank came to the primary market with N700 billion Treasury bills offer size across standard tenors, including 91-day, 182-day and 364 day maturities. Details from the auction results showed that demand settled slightly above the total offers as investors began to seek higher returns on naira assets despite disinflation.
Total subscription came in at about N775 billion versus N700 billion offers floated at the main auction. The results showed rising appetite for duration as investors parked about 90% of their bids on Nigerian Treasury bills with 364 days maturity. The CBN opened N100 billion worth of 91 days bills for subscription, but the offer received underwhelming bids totalling N44.17 billion.
The CBN allotted N42.80 billion for the short-term instrument at the spot rate of 15.30%, the same as the previous auction. Total demand for 182 days Nigerian Treasury bills settled at N33.38 billion as against N150 billion that the authority pushed out for subscription. The CBN raised N30.36 billion from 182 days bills allotted to investors at the spot rate of 15.50%, the same as the previous auction.
Investors staked N697.29 billion on N450 billion in 364-day Treasury bills that was offered for subscription. The CBN raised N636.46 billion from the longest tenor at the spot rate of 17.50%, up from 16.04% at the previous auction.
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