Nigeria, Jan. 5 -- By any objective measure, Nigeria's digital lending market has grown faster than its regulatory safeguards. What FCCPC's Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations 2025 (DEON 2025) sought to do was not to stifle innovation, but to civilise it.

The recent decision by the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee to suspend the DEON Regulations, citing investor confidence, regulatory overlap, and ease of doing business, raises a fundamental question: Who truly benefits from regulatory silence in Nigeria's digital lending ecosystem?

Regulation, when evidence-based and done without bias, is not the enemy of investment, as alleged by several detractors. Across global markets, clear rules at...