Nigeria Moves To Exit FATF Grey List

Nigeria has moved to exit the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), grey list with a high-level inter-agency team from the country meeting with the FATF’s International Cooperation Review Group in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday, September 3, 2024, to present the country’s progress report on its Action Plan to exit the grey-list.

Led by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Hafsat Abubakar Bakari, the Nigeria team met with the Task Force’s International Cooperation Review Group to deliberate on the issues.

The team had representatives from the Central Bank of Nigeria, Department of State Services, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Federal Ministry of Justice, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, National Insurance Commission and the Nigeria Customs Service.

Other on the delegation include the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering, and Securities and Exchange Commission which presented Nigeria’s fourth triannual progress report since the country’s inclusion on the grey-list in February 2023.

Nigeria’s inclusion on the FATF grey-list in February 2023 prompted the country to implement a comprehensive Action Plan to address deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) regime.

The team presented the fourth triannual progress report, highlighting the significant strides made in addressing the Action Plan’s items.

The NFIU, in a statement, noted that Nigeria has continued to make progress on the implementation of the Action Plan and with around 30 per cent of the items concluded while the country remains on track to meet the final deadline of May 2025.

Recall that the presidency has recently issued a public statement reiterating the commitment of the administration at the highest level to ensuring that all necessary measures are put in place to ensure the completion of the Action Plan.