Naira strengthens after Nigeria exits FATF list
Nigeria’s currency strengthened to 1,465 naira per dollar at informal exchanges following removal from the Financial Action Task Force grey list on Friday, October 24, marking recognition of anti-money laundering reforms across 40 recommendations. The milestone prompted Central Bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso to emphasize consolidating compliance gains while foreign reserves reached 43.10 billion dollars by late October, supporting the local unit’s 15 percent appreciation since December 2024.
South Africa, Mozambique and Burkina Faso also exited the watchdog’s monitoring framework after addressing regulatory deficiencies in combating illicit financial flows. Exchange rate reforms, including the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System, reduced speculation as the central bank cleared a 7 billion dollar transaction backlog accumulated under fragmented pricing mechanisms.
Analysts attributed currency stability to foreign portfolio investment returns, international oil company contributions and declining arbitrage opportunities under unified rate policies, though sustaining momentum requires increased crude output and export diversification.
