EU Removes Nigeria from list of ‘High-Risk Jurisdictions’

Friday, January 16, 2026 - The European Union has offi­cially removed Nigeria from its list of “High-Risk Jurisdictions,” marking a significant milestone in the nation’s efforts to rehabili­tate its financial compliance rep­utation and restore internation­al confidence in its anti-money laundering and counter-terror­ism financing frameworks.

The move is expected to ease trade, payments and investment flows between the country and Europe.

The decision, published on January 9, 2026, will take effect on January 29, 2026, and arrives as a direct consequence of Nigeria’s successful exit from the Finan­cial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in October 2025.

Five other African coun­tries—Burkina Faso, Mali, Mo­zambique, South Africa, and Tanzania—were simultaneously removed from the EU’s high-risk list following their own exits from the FATF grey list during 2025.

This collective delisting rep­resents a notable moment for the African continent, where compliance reputations have of­ten lagged behind actual reform efforts, and signals improving fi­nancial governance across multi­ple jurisdictions.

Reacting to the development, the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, described Nigeria’s removal from the list as a major boost to investor con­fidence.

In a post on X on Thursday, she wrote, “Big win for Nigeria! Re­moved from EU’s financial ‘high-risk’ list! Congrats to President @officialABAT on this achieve­ment. As Minister of State for Finance, I’m proud of this boost to trade and investor confidence.”

Being on the EU’s high-risk list previously meant that trans­actions with European partners required enhanced due diligence, stricter documentation, and addi­tional oversight.

Nigerian businesses and banks faced increased scrutiny, which slowed cross-border trade and complicated investment flows.

Under EU law, specifically Article 9(1) of Directive (EU) 2015/849, countries deemed to have strategic deficiencies in their systems for combating money laundering and terrorism financing must be identified to protect the proper functioning of the EU’s internal market. Finan­cial institutions operating within the European Union are legally required to apply “enhanced due diligence” to transactions involv­ing parties in countries classified as high risk.