Group hails Nigeria’s removal from FATF grey list

Spaces for Change (S4C), a civil society organisation advocating for policy reforms in Nigeria’s financial and civic sectors, has congratulated the Nigerian government on its successful removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.

The delisting was announced during the FATF plenary session held in Paris, France, in October 2025, marking a major milestone in Nigeria’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing efforts.

Alongside Nigeria, Burkina Faso, South Africa, and Mozambique were also delisted after demonstrating significant progress in strengthening their Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) frameworks.

According to FATF, delisting from the grey list signifies that the affected countries have effectively addressed identified strategic deficiencies and strengthened the integrity of their financial systems under the close supervision of the International Cooperative Review Group (ICRG).

In a statement signed by Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri, its executive director, Spaces for Change noted that it had been actively involved in Nigeria and Burkina Faso’s compliance journey, especially in supporting reforms related to the non-profit sector.

The organisation said these initiatives enhanced the implementation of FATF Recommendation 8, which focuses on safeguarding the non-profit sector from terrorism financing abuse while ensuring that legitimate charitable activities are not hindered.

According to S4C, in 2022, Nigeria took a significant step by removing non-profit organisations from the list of obliged reporting entities and from the category of Designated Non-Financial Professions and Businesses (DNFBPs).

These reforms, according to S4C, contributed to improving Nigeria’s compliance status and fostering a more enabling environment for civic operations.

“With these collective efforts, Nigeria has become the only West African country to secure a Fully Compliant rating on FATF Recommendation 8.

“The country’s delisting from the FATF grey list reinforces its progress and demonstrates a strong commitment to technical compliance and operational effectiveness”, the statement read.

Spaces for Change congratulated both the Nigerian and Burkinabe authorities for achieving this milestone, noting that the development would help ease financial restrictions on charities and attract more investor confidence.

“Spaces for Change remains committed to ensuring that counter-terrorism measures across the subregion do not shrink civic space or limit the operations of civil society,” Ibezim-Ohaeri stated.