NFIU, Banks, Fintechs Unite Against Illicit Financial Flows

The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has mobilised banks, fintech companies, insurance firms, virtual asset service providers and other financial-sector players for a stronger joint response to illicit financial flows and increasingly sophisticated financial crimes.

The move is anchored on the proposed Joint Financial Intelligence Collaboration (JFIC), a public-private framework designed to strengthen the sharing of financial intelligence, improve early detection of suspicious transactions and help disrupt illicit financial networks operating through Nigeria’s financial system.

The initiative, according to stakeholders, is expected to create a more effective bridge between government intelligence agencies and institutions at the frontline of financial transactions, where suspicious activities can often be detected earliest.

The NFIU made the push during a high-level stakeholder engagement in Abuja, organised with the support of the British High Commission in Nigeria and the Convention for Business Integrity (CBi).

The meeting brought together regulators, banks, insurance companies, fintechs, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), technology companies and other key stakeholders in the financial ecosystem.

Representing the chief executive officer of the NFIU, Hajia Hafsat Abubakar Bakari, the agency’s general counsel, Felix Obiamalu, said the process had moved beyond discussions to the actual design and implementation of the proposed partnership.

He said stakeholders were now expected to collectively determine how the JFIC would operate, the value it would deliver and how the collaboration could be sustained.

According to him, “We have moved from dialogue to design, to commitment and implementation.”

He stressed that the objective was to develop a practical framework capable of responding to emerging financial threats through stronger cooperation between the public and private sectors.

The importance of the collaboration was further underscored by the British High Commission, with its Illicit Financial Flows Officer at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Jehanzeb Khan, reaffirming the need for stronger public-private partnerships in combating illicit financial flows.

Also speaking, the managing director of the Convention for Business Integrity, Olusoji Apampa said the process was deliberately structured to put the private sector at the centre of decision-making.

According to him, such an approach would ensure that the proposed framework reflects the operational realities of financial institutions while encouraging wider ownership and participation.

Delivering the keynote presentation, former chair of the Egmont Group and former Director of South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Centre, Xolisile Khanyile, described private-sector participation in the fight against financial crime as a national responsibility.

Khanyile called for a practical and phased implementation of the proposed JFIC, identifying trust, shared ownership and collaboration as critical to its success.