EU Removes Nigeria from High-Risk Financial Crime List
By Ahmed Ahmed
Nigeria has achieved a major international milestone in its efforts to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing, following its official removal from the European Union’s list of high-risk third countries under the EU Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework.
The development was disclosed in a statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Hafsat Abubakar Bakari.
According to the statement, the decision is contained in the European Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) C (2025) 8460, adopted on December 4, 2025, in line with updates issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) after its October 2025 Plenary.
The regulation, which takes effect from January 29, 2026, also confirms the delisting of Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania.
The countries were removed after successfully exiting the FATF list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, having addressed strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT frameworks.
The European Commission noted that Nigeria strengthened the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime by closing technical and operational gaps and fulfilling commitments under its FATF Action Plan, leading to its removal from the FATF grey list in 2025.
Stakeholders attributed the achievement to strong political will under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as well as sustained collaboration among the National Assembly, regulators, law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, the private sector and development partners.
Reacting, NFIU CEO Hafsat Bakari described the delisting as a strong validation of Nigeria’s reform efforts. Experts say the development will ease financial transactions with the EU, enhance investor confidence and reinforce Nigeria’s standing in the global financial system.
