Three months after successfully exiting the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) greylist, Nigeria has gone a step further as the European Union (EU) has also removed the country from its list of high-risk jurisdictions for money laundering and terrorism financing.
The removal is alongside South Africa and four other African countries, according to a report published on the European Commission’s website. The move is expected to ease cross-border transactions, reduce compliance costs, and improve investor confidence.
It also means that enhanced due diligence requirements applied to transactions involving Nigeria and other delisted countries will be lifted from January 29, 2026, subject to procedural approval by the European Parliament and the Council. According to the European Commission, the update reflects decisions taken by the FATF at its June and October 2025 plenaries, where several countries were removed from the list of “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring,” commonly referred to as the greylist.
“The EU has added new third-country jurisdictions to the list (Bolivia and the British Virgin Islands) and delisted a number of others (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania),” it stated.
EU entities covered by the bloc’s anti-money laundering (AML) framework are required to apply enhanced vigilance when dealing with countries on the list. Reacting to the EU’s removal of Nigeria from the high- risk financial list, the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris UzokaAnite, in a post on X described the development as a big win for Nigeria.
“Congrats to President @officialABAT on this achievement. As Minister of State for Finance, I’m proud of this boost to trade and investor confidence,” she posted. Analysts note that Nigeria’s removal from the EU high-risk list has significant economic and financial implications for the country.
Reason: Being classified as a high-risk jurisdiction often leads to higher transaction costs, delayed payments, restricted correspondent banking relationships, and reduced foreign investment. Nigeria was removed from the FATF greylist in October last year after implementing a series of reforms aimed at strengthening its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) regime.
Reacting to the development in October, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR described it as “a major milestone in Nigeria’s journey towards economic reform, institutional integrity and global credibility.”
The decision follows Nigeria’s successful and timely completion of its FATF Action Plan, marking over two years of sustained effort, reform and interagency coordination aimed at strengthening the country’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework.
In February 2023, the FATF placed Nigeria on the grey list. The message from the global community was clear: the nation needed more vigorous enforcement, better coordination, and greater transparency.
Rather than treat this as a setback, Nigeria viewed it as a call to action. Under President Tinubu’s strategic leadership and in line with the economic transformation agenda of his administration, Nigeria implemented far-reaching legal, institutional and operational reforms.
