ABUJA Nigeria has been removed from the Financial Action Task Force\u2019s (FATF) global \u201cgrey list,\u201d marking a major milestone in its fight against money laundering and terrorist financing after nearly two years under increased international scrutiny.
The decision, announced Friday at the FATF plenary session in Paris, reflects Nigeria\u2019s full implementation of a 19-point action plan developed with regional and international partners. The reforms included legislative overhauls, new compliance structures, and stronger inter-agency coordination.
Nigeria was first placed on the grey list in February 2023, a move that complicated foreign transactions and discouraged global investors wary of financial-crime risks. The country\u2019s delisting signals a turnaround in regulatory credibility, officials said.
President Bola Tinubu hailed the announcement as \u201ca strategic victory\u201d for Nigeria\u2019s economy, saying it demonstrated his administration\u2019s commitment to fiscal discipline and global financial standards. \u201cThis achievement reinforces investor trust and strengthens our role as a responsible partner in international finance,\u201d Tinubu said in a statement.
Reforms credited with the delisting include two key laws the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 along with a new beneficial-ownership register that increases transparency of corporate entities. The government also expanded oversight of non-financial institutions such as real estate and legal services.
Analysts say the development is expected to ease cross-border transactions, reduce compliance costs for Nigerian banks, and attract capital inflows into Africa\u2019s largest economy. \u201cThis is a credibility dividend for Nigeria,\u201d said Lagos-based economist Kemi Awoniyi. \u201cIt sends a signal that reforms are real, not rhetorical.\u201d
Still, the FATF cautioned that Nigeria will undergo a 12-month post-observation review to ensure enforcement of anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing measures remains robust. The group urged continued vigilance to prevent backsliding.
Nigeria\u2019s removal coincided with similar delistings of South Africa, Mozambique and Burkina Faso a broader shift reflecting progress in African financial compliance. \u201cThese exits show that African governments are taking ownership of their reform agendas,\u201d FATF President Elisa de Anda Madrazo said in Paris.
International reactions were swift. British High Commissioner to Nigeria Richard Montgomery called the move \u201ca major boost for Nigeria\u2019s financial credibility,\u201d while several non-governmental organizations said the reforms must translate into real-world accountability. \u201cThe test will be in enforcement, not in celebration,\u201d said the Centre for Transparency Advocacy in Abuja.
For Nigeria\u2019s banking sector, the delisting could help restore lost correspondent-banking relationships and ease pressure on dollar liquidity. Market analysts expect modest appreciation in the naira and tightening of sovereign bond spreads as risk perceptions ease.
However, experts warned against complacency. \u201cExiting the grey list is not an endpoint,\u201d said anti-corruption advocate Aisha Yesufu. \u201cThe real challenge is ensuring these institutions remain independent and effective even when political winds change.\u201d
As Nigeria steps back into global financial good standing, its next task will be ensuring reforms outlast the spotlight building a financial system that is transparent, resilient, and trusted both at home and abroad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ABUJA Nigeria has been removed from the Financial Action Task Force\u2019s (FATF) global \u201cgrey list,\u201d marking a major milestone in its fight against money laundering and terrorist financing after nearly two years under increased international scrutiny. The decision, announced Friday at the FATF plenary session in Paris, reflects Nigeria\u2019s full implementation of a 19-point action […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-naija-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Bola-Tinubu.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22214"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22215,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22214\/revisions\/22215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}