Claim: Senator Dino Melaye stated on Arise News, that Nigeria and South Africa were placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list at the same time, but that South Africa has exited, while Nigeria remains listed.

Verdict:

❌ The claim is false and misleading. As of September 2025, both Nigeria and South Africa remain on the FATF grey list, although South Africa is closer to exiting following substantial reforms.

Background:

Nigeria became a grey-listed country in February 2023, alongside 21 other countries, including South Africa. The FATF grey list identifies jurisdictions under increased monitoring due to strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorism financing (CFT), and counter-proliferation financing (CPF) frameworks.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF)is the global body tasked with leading actions to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation financing.

Greylisting carries significant consequences:

• It increases the perceived risk of doing business in Nigeria.
• It leads to higher compliance costs and enhanced due diligence for financial institutions.
• It can affect foreign investment and international financial transactions.

Nigeria’s Progress:

Nigeria has taken several steps toward exiting the grey list, including:

• CBN’s Customer Due Diligence Regulation (2023)
• EFCC’s SCUML regulations for non-profit organisations
• CBN’s updated guidelines for Bureau de Change operators (May 2024)

On 21 February 2025, FATF approved Nigeria’s fifth progress report, acknowledging substantial completion of its action plan. However, Nigeria remains on the list pending on-site verification of the effectiveness of these reforms.

Sources such as Mondaq.com and TheNewsroom confirm that Nigeria is still listed as of June 2025, though FATF has recognised its progress.

South Africa’s Status:

South Africa was also grey-listed in February 2023. By June 2025, the National Treasury of the Government of South Africa confirmed that the country had completed all 22 required action items and was awaiting a final on-site assessment by FATF.

During the June 2025 FATF Plenary in Strasbourg, FATF acknowledged South Africa’s reforms, including:

• Enhanced investigations and prosecutions of financial crimes
• Improved transparency of beneficial ownership
• Strengthened risk-based supervision

However, as of September 2025, Mail&Guardian reported that South Africa was still awaiting FATF’s site visit, expected in October 2025. Thus, it remains on the grey list for now.

Conclusion:

Nigeria and South Africa remain on the FATF grey list as of September 2025; South Africa is nearing removal, but reports of its delisting are incorrect.

Therefore, Senator Dino Melaye’s statement is false and misleading.

Please follow and like us: