On February 24, 2024, Nigeria alongside countries like South Africa, was placed on the Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) (‘FATF, aka “Fatiff”), also known by its French name, Groupe d’action financière (GAFI) grey list.
Flip to January 2025, the Nigerian government, through the efforts of the National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, (NFIU) have kick-started an initiative that would ensure the exclusion of the country from the FATF Grey List by May 2025.
This initiative was a directive of the President to the request of the NFIU to develop and implement an Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Financial Terrorism/Counter Proliferation of Firearms Data Management Framework and Platform in collaboration with NITDA.
A fintech expert who is familiar with the FAFT grey list told Techeconomy that Nigeria had late last year submitted over 50 per cent of the list required to exit the list.
At the inaugural technical session to kick start the process at the NITDA Headquarters in Abuja, on Friday, Kashifu Inuwa, the director general of NITDA, disclosed that the technical session meeting would mark a “remarkable mile in the country’s journey to exit from the From the Financial Action Task Force Grey List the nation has been enlisted into since February 2013.
He said the enlistment of the country into the Grey List was occasioned by seven issues among which are the rising capital inflows into the country, the shortcomings in combating money laundering, the shortcomings in combating arms financing and the shortcomings in combating terrorism financing.
According to him other factors include “the nation’s deficiencies in anti-money laundering regime, counter-terrorism financing regime and counter arms proliferation financing regime.”
He noted that the desire of the President to combat corruption and financial crime through innovation and technology necessitated his directive to NITDA to work with NIFU to build a system that would help NFIU to better manage financial data and compliance in the country.
He said,
“Today we are kick starting a meeting to start that project that will take us out of the Grey List and build that robust system. The main objective of the system is to help us with global compliance; to help Nigeria position itself as a key player in the global effort to combat financial terrorism and other crimes. This will help us to create visibility in Nigeria as well as improve our global reputation and relationship in the financial market.”
While maintaining that the initiative will help in improving national security because of its capability to see any financial transaction inflow into the country, NITDA boss maintained that it will also help to “track any illicit flow as well as empower us to highlight or identify criminal network in our financial sector.”
Inuwa averred that the system will strengthen the nation’s law enforcement and the economy because it will tame crime in the economy which will encourage investment into the country.
In her remarks, the NFIU Chief Executive Officer, Barrister Hafsat Abubakar Bakari described the project as a “game changer” because it will not only help the country to exit the grey list as directed by the president but improve the Data Integration Management System for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism, (AMLCFT.)
While acknowledging the introduction of technology in the way things are now being done at the NFIU, she called on Nigerians to support the initiative of not only the exiting of the grey list but to sustain the gains that the country has made from it.
She said,
“The Grey List is not just a one-off project, it is a continuous project. The next cycle of evaluation will be done in the year 2027 and we do not want a situation where we exit from the Grey List and another evaluation is conducted by the FITF, and we find ourselves back on the grey list again.”
Barrister Bakari added that “this is why we have decided that the use of technology will give credibility to every statistic that we have, not just to our domestic stakeholders, but also to our international partners. Everything should be done in real time and accessible, credible, and factual, and that is the project that we are doing today.”
While expressing her gratitude to NITDA and the Director General for their contributions to the project and other national service, she noted that she believes in local content initiative and that was why the NFIU made submission to Mr. President that NITDA should drive the process which he “graciously approved.”
“So, congratulations, NITDA, for the confidence that the NFIU has in you, and for the confidence that Mr. President has in you to drive this project,” she noted.
Adedeji Olajide, the chairman, House Committee on Information and Communication technology and Cyber Security, who also graced the event assured both NITDA and NFIU of legislative support in their quest to secure the country against illicit financial flow and other vices.
While acknowledging that it was a welcome development to see the executive and the legislator working together to achieve common goals in our country Honourable Olajide said “You can be sure of it that you have all of the legislative support to get whatever you need done, and we will make sure there are no stumbling blocks in your way.”
He said it has become imperative to “change the narrative” and position Nigeria to its rightful place among the comity of nation, adding that he understood all the benefits and values the introduction of technology will bring to NFIU operations.
He said,
“Nigeria is going to take its rightful place as the giant of Africa. We are going to lead the way in cutting-edge technologies to make sure that Nigeria has all of the right people, the right processes, and the right technology to move the country to the next level which is also in line with the agenda of Mr. President Ahmed Bola, who is also a technology person.”
The objective of the AML/CFT/CPF Data Management Framework/Platform are; to achieve FATF compliance, to enable Nigeria’s removal from the Grey List and restore international confidence, to enhance NFIU’s operational capacity through automation, intelligence integration, and scalability, establish a robust and sustainable framework to ensure long-term operational and financial independence and to position Nigeria as a global leader in financial intelligence and AML/CFT practices, setting benchmarks for other nations
The development and implementation of this platform are imperative to addressing the identified gaps, strengthening Nigeria’s financial integrity, and securing its place as a trusted partner in the global financial ecosystem.
