Nigeria’s drive to modernise tax administration and tighten digital compliance received a major boost as technology firm Upperlink Limited has been authorised by the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) as a System Integrator for the country’s national e-Invoicing platform.
The approval positions Upperlink at the centre of Nigeria’s expanding electronic invoicing regime, which is expected to reshape how businesses issue invoices, report taxes, and manage financial records across the country.
With the authorisation, Upperlink will connect businesses and institutions to the NRS Merchant Buyer Solution framework, enabling real-time invoice validation, secure transmission, and digital tax reporting as the government pushes ahead with mandatory e-invoicing.
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The move reflects Nigeria’s growing shift toward a fully digital tax ecosystem aimed at reducing leakages, improving transparency, and expanding government revenue collection.
Speaking on the development, Olusegun Akano, the managing director of Upperlink Limited, said the approval highlights the company’s experience in enterprise technology, regulated payment infrastructure, and large-scale digital service delivery.
According to him, the company has built secure and scalable platforms for businesses, government institutions, and financial service providers over the years.
“We have delivered secure, scalable, and easy-to-use platforms for business, government, financial services, and digital transformation initiatives,” Akano said.
He explained that the company is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria as a Payment Solution Service Provider and also operates as an aggregator to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System.
Akano added that Upperlink’s status as Nigeria’s first ICANN-accredited registrar further demonstrates its strength in digital infrastructure and cloud-related services.
The company also pointed to several payment and enterprise solutions it has developed, including Upperlink Paygate, which supports payments across major card schemes and account-to-account channels.
According to the firm, its treasury management systems already support financial operations for large corporations and several state governments, capabilities that are expected to become important under the new invoicing and tax compliance regime.
The expansion of electronic invoicing could significantly change Nigeria’s business environment by improving invoice tracking, reducing fraudulent tax practices, and helping authorities monitor commercial transactions more efficiently.
The latest development comes as the NRS begins phased implementation of mandatory e-invoicing for taxpayers across different turnover categories.
Under the rollout plan, companies with annual turnover above N5 billion are expected to onboard first, followed by businesses earning between N1 billion and N5 billion, before smaller businesses below N1 billion are integrated into the system.
Businesses are expected to align their accounting and invoicing systems with the approved framework to enable real-time issuance, validation, and submission of invoices through authorised channels.
Opeyemi Oni, the chief marketing officer of Upperlink Limited, said the approval strengthens the company’s commitment to helping organisations comply with the new framework without disrupting operations.
He noted that the company aims to reduce operational bottlenecks while improving transparency and trusted digital record keeping across Nigeria’s business ecosystem.
“This approval strengthens our commitment to helping Nigerian businesses comply seamlessly with the new e-Invoicing framework while reducing operational friction and improving transparency,” Oni said.
As a System Integrator, Upperlink will support organisations that already operate enterprise resource planning and accounting systems, while also providing middleware and portal-based solutions for businesses that need fresh integration tools.
Experts say the success of the e-invoicing initiative will depend heavily on the quality of integration support available to businesses, especially medium-sized enterprises that may lack strong digital infrastructure.
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Beyond tax compliance, the initiative is also expected to support Nigeria’s wider digital economy ambitions by encouraging formalisation of business transactions and improving confidence in financial reporting systems.
Upperlink said its experience in handling nationally scaled public-sector projects places it in a strong position to support the transition.
The company cited its role in the AGILE Project, a World Bank-supported Federal Government programme, where it provided secure portals for beneficiary registration, digital identity capture, database creation, and payment management in partnership with banks.
The latest approval further expands the role indigenous technology companies are expected to play in Nigeria’s financial technology and public-sector digital transformation efforts.
With the government tightening tax administration and seeking improved revenue collection, industry stakeholders believe electronic invoicing may soon become a major compliance requirement shaping how businesses operate across Nigeria.
