Digital Boom: Nigeria’s EMTL Revenue Soars by ₦88.73 Billion in Half-Year 2025
As more Nigerians swap physical cash for mobile apps and bank transfers, the Federal Government’s coffers are seeing a significant boost. New data from the 2025–2027 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) reveals that the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) has become a star performer in Nigeria’s revenue landscape, significantly outperforming expectations for the first half of the year.
While oil remains a struggle, the digital habits of millions of Nigerians are helping to bridge the gap in the national budget.
Table of Contents
The EMTL Surprise: 66% Beyond the Target
Non-Oil Revenue: A Mixed Bag of Successes
The Oil Revenue Reality Check: Why Receipts are Lagging
The “Cashless” Driver: ₦284.9 Trillion in Digital Transactions
What This Means for the Nigerian Economy
The EMTL Surprise: 66% Beyond the Target
The Electronic Money Transfer Levy—the ₦50 charge on electronic transfers of ₦10,000 and above—has proven to be a goldmine. For the first half of 2025, the government set an ambitious target, but the actual results were even higher.
Prorated Target: ₦134.17 Billion
Actual Collection: ₦222.90 Billion
The Overperformance: ₦88.73 Billion (+66.1%)
This surge acts as a critical cushion for the government, providing much-needed liquidity at a time when traditional revenue sources are under pressure.
Non-Oil Revenue: A Mixed Bag of Successes
Beyond the transfer levy, other non-oil sectors showed resilience, though the overall non-oil segment still faced a ₦1.81 trillion shortfall due to weaknesses in customs and solid minerals.
These “bright spots” highlight an improving efficiency in tax administration and a growing formalization of the economy through digital trails.
The Oil Revenue Reality Check
While digital payments are booming, the backbone of Nigeria’s traditional revenue—oil and gas—is facing a difficult year. By July 2025, the sector was significantly off-course.
The Gap: Out of a prorated target of ₦29.78 trillion, only ₦11.17 trillion was realized.
The Performance Rate: A mere 37.5%.
The Culprits: Low crude production (averaging 1.66 mbpd against a 2.1 mbpd target), price volatility, and limited refining margins.
This massive shortfall has put immense pressure on the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to maximize collections from the non-oil sector to keep the government running.
The “Cashless” Driver: ₦284.9 Trillion in Digital Transactions
The reason the EMTL is doing so well isn’t just better collection—it’s a fundamental change in how Nigerians spend money. According to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), electronic transactions hit a staggering ₦284.9 trillion in just the first quarter of 2025.
22% Growth: This is a significant jump from the ₦234.4 trillion recorded in Q1 2024.
Instant Payments (NIP): This channel remains the king of digital transactions, facilitating everything from USSD transfers to mobile app payments.
Financial Inclusion: More Nigerians are moving away from physical cash for daily transactions, a trend that is formalizing the economy and making it easier for the government to track and levy economic activity.
What This Means for the Nigerian Economy
The data reinforces a clear trend: Nigeria’s economic future is digital. While the oil sector remains volatile and below target, the rapid adoption of digital financial services is creating a more stable and predictable revenue stream for the government.
However, the overall 13% shortfall in net non-oil revenue shows that while we are clicking “send” on our banking apps more than ever, there is still work to be done in other sectors like manufacturing and solid minerals to fully balance the books.
Surge in Electronic Payments This video provides expert analysis on the massive spike in Nigeria’s e-payment volumes and how it’s reshaping the country’s digital economy.
