HIBAPRESS – Agencies
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the body concerned with monitoring global compliance with standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, has decided to remove four African countries from its grey list: South Africa, Nigeria, Mozambique, and Burkina Faso.
This decision came after a series of field visits and assessments conducted by teams from the group, which confirmed that these countries had made "tangible progress" in addressing shortcomings within the specified time frames.
The group's president, Elisa de Anda Madrazo, said that the removal of these countries represents "an important success story for the African continent," noting that the steps taken in recent years have strengthened financial control systems and raised the level of transparency.
She added that South Africa has developed mechanisms to monitor suspicious financial activities and terrorist financing, while Nigeria has succeeded in establishing a more coordinated framework between its regulatory and security institutions. Mozambique has improved the exchange of financial and intelligence information, while Burkina Faso has worked to enhance control within its financial and banking institutions.
Nigeria and South Africa were included in the "grey list" in 2023, preceded by Mozambique in 2022, and Burkina Faso in 2021. The list refers to countries that still face "strategic deficiencies" in their systems, but are cooperating with the organization to fix them.
The leaders of the four countries welcomed the decision, considering it as enhancing international confidence in their economies. Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stated that the move represents "an important station in the path of economic reform and strengthening institutional integrity." The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit also confirmed that it had implemented a comprehensive action plan consisting of 19 items to prove its commitment to reform.
For his part, the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Authority, Edward Kieswetter, commented that exiting the grey list "is not the end of the road, but the beginning of a new phase towards establishing a stronger and more sustainable financial system."
In Mozambique, Finance Minister Carla Lovira had previously expressed optimism about her country's exit from the list, stressing that the government seeks to have the 2030 assessments witness a reality completely different from the past.
It should be noted that the Financial Action Task Force maintains two lists: the first is grey for countries under monitoring, and the second is black, which includes countries that have not cooperated with reform efforts, headed by Iran, Myanmar, and North Korea.
This development is a positive step for the African continent, as it is expected to contribute to improving the confidence of investors and international financial institutions in the four countries, and opens the way for larger financial and investment flows in the next phase.
