On 24 October 2025, a pivotal milestone was reached: Nigeria was formally removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) “grey list” of jurisdictions under increased monitoring.

This development is significant not only from a regulatory and financial-integrity standpoint, but also in terms of economic diplomacy, investor sentiment, and the domestic reform agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In this article we explore how Nigeria arrived at this point, what role President Tinubu’s administration (and its “Renewed Hope” agenda) played, and what the implications are for the country going forward.

1. The Journey to the Grey List and Why it Mattered

To understand the achievement, one needs to recognise the stakes. The FATF monitors jurisdictions for compliance with international standards on anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CFT) and counter-proliferation financing (CPF). When those deficiencies become “strategic”, FATF places countries under increased monitoring (the “grey list”).

Nigeria was listed in February 2023, owing to “significant deficiencies” in its AML/CFT regime, coordination among authorities, beneficial ownership transparency, supervision of non-financial gatekeepers, and intelligence-sharing.

Why did this matter?

Grey-listing raises red flags for correspondent banks, trade-finance counterparties, remitters and foreign investors, leading to higher risk premiums, restricted access to global payment flows, and a chilling effect on foreign capital.

Domestically, it signalled that Nigeria’s financial-crime governance architecture needed deep strengthening: from the role of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to prosecutorial capacity, beneficial-ownership registers, and supervision of non-bank financial/business sectors.

Exiting the grey list is not just about reputation: it unlocks tangible benefits, improved access to trade and finance, lower costs of doing business, enhanced investor confidence and potentially increased foreign direct investment.

2. The Policy Drive: President Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” Agenda & Reform Momentum

The removal from the grey list did not occur in a vacuum. It coincides with a broader reform thrust under President Tinubu’s administration. In March 2025, for example, the Minister of State for Finance affirmed that Nigeria was working “tirelessly to address the remaining deficiencies in our AML/CFT regime … in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Administration.”

Some of the key policy and institutional moves include:

Targeted Action Plan: Nigeria worked to address the 19 specific action items identified by FATF in its evaluation.

Legal Reform & Beneficial Ownership Registers: The government strengthened legal frameworks, including the operationalisation of beneficial-ownership registers and reinforcement of financial-intelligence capabilities.

Technological & Intelligence Upgrades: A high-level initiative led by the NFIU and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) introduced a data-platform for real-time financial-flow visibility, aligned with President Tinubu’s push for financial-sector modernisation.

Inter-agency Coordination: The President directed key agencies (Finance, Justice, Interior, National Security) to work in lock-step with the NFIU to fast-track removal from the grey list. For instance, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, co-chaired a committee with the Attorney-General to “exit the grey list” and aim for the white list.

These are underpinned by the broader “Renewed Hope” agenda, which emphasises governance reforms, transparency, institutional strengthening and economic revival. While there are critiques of the pace and scope of delivery, the alignment between the AML/CFT agenda and the government’s broader reform narrative is clear.

In short: the removal from the grey list can be seen as a tangible payoff of the administration’s governance-integrity push, not just a standalone financial-compliance exercise.

3. The Impact and What It Means for Nigeria

With the delisting confirmed, the implications for Nigeria are both immediate and medium-term.

Immediate implications

Improved global investor sentiment: The move sends a strong signal that Nigeria meets and can sustain key international financial standards. “This is a watershed moment …” a Financial Times analysis noted.

Reduced friction in cross-border banking, remittances and trade finance: Institutions abroad may now lower the enhanced due-diligence premiums and constraints they applied to Nigerian counterparties.

Reinforcement of reform momentum: For the Tinubu administration, the delisting confirms to domestic and international audiences that its governance reform agenda has substance — not only promise.

Medium-term implications

A more robust financial-integrity architecture: The reforms implemented will help Nigeria better detect and prevent illicit financial flows, strengthen supervision of “gatekeepers” (non-financial professions/businesses), and sustain institutional coordination.

Enhanced attractiveness to foreign direct investment (FDI) and portfolio flows: As risk premia decline and perceptions of regulatory/governance risk improve, Nigeria becomes a more competitive destination.

Stronger international cooperation: With FATF-compliant status restored, Nigeria can engage more fully in cross-border intelligence-sharing, correspondent banking networks, and global financial-integration platforms.

Key caveats

Delisting is not the end game: Nigeria still must sustain the momentum. FATF reviews are ongoing, and compliance must be effective in practice, not just on paper.

Institutional culture and enforcement matter: Legal frameworks may be in place, but enforcement, prosecution, transparency, and accountability are what determine outcomes.

Translation into economic growth is not automatic: While delisting removes a head-wind, Nigeria still faces major structural challenges, macro-economic stability, infrastructure deficits, human-capital development, and private-sector growth.

4. President Tinubu’s Role: From Policy to Signal

The exit from the grey list confers a positive institutional and reputational return for President Tinubu. It is worth highlighting how:

His administration set a clear target: Nigeria publicly aimed to exit the grey list by 2025, with senior ministers repeatedly stating the goal and aligning ministerial actions accordingly.

Governance reform as a theme: The “Renewed Hope” agenda emphasises a break with past governance practices — making compliance with global standards part of a broader national brand-revival.

Leadership and coordination: The President reportedly co-ordinated across ministries, security agencies, and regulatory bodies to deliver the required reforms. As his media office stated, the delisting was achieved through “the coordination of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit … working in conjunction with the Attorney-General … the Minister of Finance … the Minister of Interior …”

The signal effect: Exiting the grey list gives the President’s reform agenda a concrete success story, bolstering his credentials in governance, anti-corruption, transparency and investor-friendliness.

5. Looking Ahead: What Must Nigeria Do to Consolidate Gains

Achievement is one thing; sustainability is another. For Nigeria to build on this moment:

Maintain operational effectiveness: The NFIU, banks, non-financial gatekeepers and law-enforcement agencies must continue to coordinate, share intelligence, investigate and prosecute.

Strengthen beneficial-ownership transparency: Illicit actors exploit opaque ownership structures; Nigeria must ensure registers are live, effective and publicly meaningful.

Broaden supervision to non-financial sectors: Lawyers, real-estate agents, crypto platforms, trade-finance intermediaries are high-risk – these “gatekeepers” must be regulated.

Public-private collaboration: The private-sector must continue to play its part (KYC/AML, suspicious-transaction reporting, compliance culture) to embed the reform beyond the state.

Monitor outcomes, not just processes: The focus must shift from “tick-box compliance” to measurable outcomes — fewer illicit flows, stronger convictions, fewer correspondent-banking terminations, increased capital-inflows.

Budget and resource agencies properly: Institutional reform requires funding, tech-capacity, training, and independence, the government must commit to this over the medium term.

Communicate transparently: To cement confidence, the government should provide regular, clear updates on progress, challenges and next-steps, aligning with its “renewed hope” brand.

Conclusion

Nigeria’s removal from the FATF grey list is a landmark achievement, both symbolically and functionally. It reflects a strengthened intersection of governance reform, financial integrity and economic-diplomacy ambition under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” agenda.

But the moment is also a hinge, the real test lies in sustaining reforms, translating institutional credibility into broad-based economic opportunity, and ensuring that Nigeria’s financial system becomes both robust and inclusive.

If the ambition is fulfilled, this delisting may mark not just a regulatory victory, but a launchpad for deeper economic transformation.

HB Report.