Nigeria may exit FATF grey list by second quarter of 2025 — CBN

Nigeria may exit the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list by the second quarter of 2025 considering enhanced effort and progress in its fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

This is according to governor Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, who spoke on Tuesday while briefing the media on the outcomes of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja.

Cardoso said Nigeria needs to pull out of the list because of various potential negative consequences, including hindering the $1 billion monthly diaspora remittances which the CBN is targeting.

In February 2023, FATF placed Nigeria on its grey list, citing deficiencies in its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) frameworks.

The FATF’s decision was fuelled by concerns over rising capital inflows and inadequate measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

To exit the list, Nigeria is required to implement a comprehensive action plan to address these strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes.

Giving an update, Cardoso explained that everything is being done to pull the country out of that list.

“If Nigeria remains on the FATF grey list, those kinds of transactions (diaspora inflows) become more suspicious to those who are enabling them and the regulators out there, and we do not want that.

“We do not want anything that will send negative signals across the waves, and it is for that reason that we have better organized the whole process of getting off that list.”

According to him, part of the efforts includes more collaboration with relevant stakeholders, ensuring that the country’s AML processes and procedures work effectively and that sanctions are applied where needed.

He noted that authorities are also enhancing needed regulatory frameworks and going around to ensure that those relative players are operating in the most appropriate manner.

“And of course, we are deepening international cooperation, which is very important to ensure that we are out there understanding FATF expectations, the ancillary bodies and making sure that we are well endowed to meet them.

“With that all in view, our expectation, quite frankly, is that by the second quarter of 2025, we should exit FATF grey list,” he stated.

Just on Monday, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) announced that the country has secured additional grades in its fight against terrorism financing and money laundering, having been adjudged Compliant (C) or Largely Compliant (LC) in 37 out of the 40 recommendations of the FATF.

According to the agency, progress was specially recognised at the 42nd meeting of the technical commission of ECOWAS’ Inter-Governmental Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), which took place recently in Freetown, Sierra Leone.