The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) is planning a new framework for intelligence sharing collaboration, a move aimed at enhancing the integrity and resilence of the nation’s financial system.
Representatives of finacial system actors and regulators met at a “high-level engagment” in Abuja on Wednesday to co-design the proposed Joint Financial Intelligence Collaboration (JFIC).
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The meeting organised by the NFIU under the auspices of the British High Commission in Nigeria and the Convention for Business Integrity (CBi), brought together representatives of regulators, banks, insurance companies, fintech companies, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), technology firms and other stakeholders to work out the JFIC framework.
NFIU Chief Executive Officer, Hafsat Bakari, said in a statement on Thursday that “the collaboration will help identify emerging threats, disrupt illicit financial networks and strengthen the integrity of Nigeria’s financial system.”
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“The initiative seeks to create a trusted platform through which public and private-sector institutions can work together more effectively,” she wrote.
During the meeting, NFIU’s General Counsel, Felix Obiamalu, who represented Mrs Bakari at the event, said the process had moved beyond discussions about the proposed partnership.
“We have moved from dialogue to design, to commitment and implementation,” Mr Obiamalu declared.
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He added that the focus was now on determining what the partnership would look like, how it would operate and the value it would create for participating institutions.
Delivering the keynote presentation, Xolisile Khanyile, former Chairperson of the Egmont Group and former Director of South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Centre, described private-sector participation as a national responsibility.
Ms Khanyile urged Nigeria to adopt a practical and phased approach to implementing the proposed partnership.
She said trust, shared ownership and collaboration “are the foundations of every successful public-private partnership.”
She also described the initiative as timely and necessary, given Nigeria’s importance within the global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework.
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Speaking on behalf of the British High Commission, Jehanzeb Khan, an Illicit Financial Flows Officer at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), stressed the need for “stronger public-private collaboration in tackling illicit financial flows.”
Also, the Managing Director of the Convention for Business Integrity, Olusoji Apampa, said the process was deliberately designed to place the private sector “at the centre of decision-making.”
According to him, this will ensure that the emerging framework reflects the “operational realities” of private-sector institutions and enjoys broad stakeholder ownership.
The NFIU said the engagement ended with “strong stakeholder support for the proposed framework” and “a shared commitment” to advancing a partnership capable of strengthening financial intelligence and improving threat detection.
It said the partnership would also enhance Nigeria’s response to “increasingly sophisticated forms of financial activity.”
“For many participants, the message was clear: no single institution can combat today’s financial crimes alone,” the statement said.
It added: “Effective action requires government and industry working together, sharing insights, identifying risks early and building collective resilience against illicit financial activity.”
About NFIU
The NFIU is Nigeria’s central agency for receiving, analysing and disseminating financial intelligence linked to money laundering, terrorism financing and other financial crimes.
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The unit receives suspicious and threshold-based transaction reports from financial institutions and other reporting entities. It analyses the information and shares relevant intelligence with law enforcement, security, intelligence, regulatory and supervisory agencies for further investigation and prosecution.
It also researches emerging financial crime threats and works with domestic and international partners to strengthen Nigeria’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems.
It was established in 2004 and became operational in 2005 as a unit of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The NFIU Act 2018 later granted it autonomy and independence.
The NFIU serves as Nigeria’s central coordinating body for anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and counter-proliferation financing efforts.
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