Nigeria’s digital infrastructure expansion is producing measurable scale: the National Identification Number (NIN) enrolment exceeded 123.9 million by October 2025 and shared payment rails handled rising transaction volumes (NIBSS recorded growth from N280 trillion to N384 trillion between August 2024 and July 2025), while formal financial inclusion is reported above 64 percent in 2025 and the national digital economy is projected at about $18.3 billion for 2026. The government is advancing foundational digital public infrastructure — including a move to MOSIP for identity, plans for a national data-exchange (NGDX) with initial use cases expected in early 2026, and rolling regulatory frameworks such as Open Banking — alongside e-government payment platforms and the e-Naira rollout. These developments are described across reporting on DPI and banking as enablers of faster payments, broader service access and more efficient public revenue flows. [1][2][3][5]. At the same time, reporting highlights significant frictions that limit the promise of these systems. Multiple sources point to low digital and financial literacy, uneven rural connectivity and unreliable power as barriers that turn “inclusion on paper” into exclusion in practice; examples include users who cannot operate USSD or apps, who must hand over PINs to agents, or who pay extra “illiteracy” fees — all undermining real access. Industry reporting warns of a parallel skills-shortage risk: the ICT sector’s rapid output growth is outpacing the supply of industry-ready talent, producing higher operating costs and an estimated $11 billion annual risk tied to the talent gap. Legal and governance advances (Data Protection Act, National Cloud Policy, and draft NGDX standards) are noted as necessary but not yet sufficient to address trust, security, and practical usability. [1][2][4][5]. The synthesis of these sources suggests that Nigeria’s digital plans and banking-led inclusion can be powerful multipliers for the 2030/2036 economic goals, but only if implementation pivots from infrastructure build-out to parallel investments in human capacity, localized literacy campaigns, and operational governance that reduces exclusion risks. Without concerted programs to close digital literacy and skills gaps and to strengthen trust and redress mechanisms, the country risks leaving large populations functionally excluded and incurring economic losses even as headline metrics improve. [1][2][3][4][5].