Nigeria has made progress in combating financial crime by strengthening its dedicated system and curbing illicit financial flows, according to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
The country has made “substantial progress” in implementing the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) action plan, which earned Nigeria a positive evaluation from the FATF’s African joint group, the agency stated in a press release.
Upcoming missions are expected to assess the sustainability of these reforms in Nigeria, a country that was placed on the FATF grey list in 2023 due to deficiencies in anti-money laundering efforts.
According to the NFIU, Nigeria has focused on enhancing procedures for detecting, investigating, and prosecuting complex cases of money laundering and terrorist financing.
Among the key advances is increased transparency in beneficial ownership, making it harder for criminals to hide behind anonymous corporate structures.
“These reforms demonstrate Nigeria’s strong commitment not only to exiting the grey list, but also to embedding a robust and resilient anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) system that protects the integrity of our financial sector,” the NFIU stated.
To accelerate its removal from the FATF grey list, the agency urged all stakeholders to continue their efforts ahead of upcoming evaluation missions to ensure the reforms are sustainable.
