The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has stepped up efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s war against money laundering, terrorism financing and other financial crimes, bringing banks, fintechs, insurers and other private-sector players into a proposed joint intelligence-sharing framework.
The initiative, known as the Joint Financial Intelligence Collaboration (JFIC), is expected to create a trusted platform where government agencies and private institutions can share intelligence, detect emerging threats and move swiftly against illicit financial networks.
The high-level engagement, supported by the British High Commission and the Convention for Business Integrity (CBi), brought together regulators, financial institutions, insurance companies, fintechs, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), technology firms and other key stakeholders.
Representing the NFIU Chief Executive Officer, Hajia Hafsat Abubakar Bakari, the Unit’s General Counsel, Felix Obiamalu, said Nigeria had moved beyond conversations and was now focused on building an operational framework.
«“We have moved from dialogue to design, to commitment and implementation,” Obiamalu declared.»
He said stakeholders were now expected to determine how the partnership would function, the value it would deliver and how it could be sustained.
“It is to jointly determine what this partnership should look like, how it should operate, what value it should create and how it can be sustained over time,” he said.
The British Government also threw its weight behind the initiative, with Jehanzeb Khan, Illicit Financial Flows Officer at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), stressing the need for stronger public-private cooperation to tackle illicit financial flows and protect Nigeria’s financial system.
The Managing Director of the Convention for Business Integrity, Olusoji Apampa, said putting the private sector at the centre of the process was deliberate.
According to him, the approach would ensure that the proposed framework reflects the realities faced by businesses while securing broad stakeholder ownership.
Delivering the keynote address, Xolisile Khanyile, former Chair of the Egmont Group and former Director of South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Centre, described private-sector participation as critical to the national fight against financial crime.
Khanyile urged Nigeria to adopt a practical and phased approach to the initiative, warning that trust and cooperation would determine its success.
«“Trust, shared ownership and collaboration are the foundations of every successful public-private partnership,” she said.»
She added that given Nigeria’s strategic position in the global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) framework, the initiative was both timely and necessary.
The meeting ended with strong stakeholder support for the proposed JFIC framework, with participants agreeing that government agencies, banks, fintechs and other businesses must work together to stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated financial criminals.
The proposed network is expected to improve intelligence sharing, strengthen early-warning mechanisms and enhance Nigeria’s capacity to identify, disrupt and dismantle illicit financial networks.