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Nigeria has become the first country in Africa to achieve a compliance rating on FATF Recommendation 8, a move seen as a model for the continent's fight against terrorist financing. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) rating is a key benchmark for countries to show they have effective measures in place to stop terrorist financing while protecting legitimate non-profit organisations.

You might wonder how this happened. Nigeria's progress resulted from coordinated reforms involving government institutions, regulators, civil society and the private sector. Dr. Buno Nduka, President of the Multivariate Compliance and Resource Centre, Nigeria, gave a detailed explanation. “Nigeria is the only country so far that has attained a compliance rating on Recommendation 8. We understood the FATF requirements and adopted a whole-of-country approach because it was not an NFIU problem alone.

Everybody had to be involved,” he said.

But what exactly did Nigeria do to achieve this rating? Nigeria strengthened existing institutions, introduced legal and policy reforms, built capacity across relevant agencies and established technical working groups to improve compliance with evolving international standards. They also worked closely with civil society organisations to improve awareness and implementation of Recommendation 8.

African Union officials say Nigeria's progress is a model for the rest of the continent. “The African Union is helping member states strengthen implementation of FATF Recommendation 8 through technical assistance, field assessments and capacity building,” said Richard Apau, Senior Programme Officer at the African Union Counter Terrorism Centre.

The success of Nigeria's reforms comes at a time when many African countries are struggling to stop terrorist financing. In Kenya, collaboration between governments and civil society has been key to transforming FATF reforms into opportunities for stronger oversight and engagement. “Early collaboration between governments and civil society has helped transform FATF reforms into opportunities for stronger oversight and engagement,” said Brian Kimari, Programmes Manager at the Centre for Human Rights and Policy studies.

But there are challenges ahead. Implementation of Recommendation 8 has created legislative challenges for civil society organisations in some African countries. In Mozambique, for example, the government has cited FATF recommendations to justify restrictive measures against civil society.

Nigeria's progress is seen as a model for the rest of the continent, but it's not without challenges.

“The fact that we have come out of the grey list does not mean that we cannot go back again. We must maintain the momentum, continually review the standards and adapt them to our local realities and environment,” said Dr. Buno Nduka.