Nigeria’s nationwide terrorism financing risk assessment of non profit organisations has let authorities pinpoint the small number of genuinely vulnerable organisations while sparing the overwhelming majority of legitimate charities from unnecessary regulatory restrictions, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission told the Third Africa High Level Civil Society Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Conference in Abuja.
EFCC Chairman Olanipekun Olukoyede, represented by Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering Director Harry Erin, said the assessment, themed Implementing FATF Recommendation 8 Correctly: Practices, Lessons Learned and Opportunities for Reform, marked a shift from broad assumptions about the non profit sector toward a targeted, evidence based understanding of actual terrorist financing risk, undertaken jointly by the EFCC, SCUML, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Corporate Affairs Commission and civil society organisations. The assessment has enabled Nigeria to move beyond broad assumptions and towards a more targeted understanding of terrorist financing vulnerabilities, Olukoyede said, it has strengthened our ability to identify organisations genuinely at risk of abuse, while ensuring that the overwhelming majority of legitimate non profit organisations can continue their vital work without unnecessary regulatory burdens. He stressed that FATF Recommendation 8 was never meant to regulate or restrict every non profit organisation, only to identify those genuinely vulnerable to abuse and apply proportionate, risk based measures, describing civil society groups as indispensable partners in delivering humanitarian aid, education, healthcare, IDP support, youth empowerment and conflict response.
Spaces for Change Executive Director Victoria Ibezim Ohaeri, whose organisation organised the event, said reforms over the past decade have substantially improved relations between regulators and non profits, addressing unintended consequences that had constrained legitimate charitable work, recalling that early engagement on implementing Recommendation 8 was marked by tension and mistrust. Sustained dialogue since then has produced landmark reforms, she said, including Nigeria’s standalone terrorist financing risk assessment of the non profit sector, repeal of provisions that had classified NPOs as obliged reporting entities under anti money laundering law, and the country’s eventual compliance rating on Recommendation 8, with SCUML’s current leadership now consolidating those gains by promoting financial inclusion for non profits while addressing operational challenges from anti money laundering implementation. She noted Nigeria’s experience is already informing reform in Ghana, The Gambia, Togo and Burkina Faso, and that the Abuja conference was designed to bring global AML/CFT conversations closer to Africa.
Delivering the keynote, United Nations Special Rapporteur Ben Saul warned governments against treating the entire non profit sector as inherently vulnerable to terrorist financing. In fact, most NPOs do not pose any risk of terrorist financing at all, he said, explaining that the revised Recommendation 8 emphasises that only organisations falling within FATF’s specific definition and found to be genuinely at risk should face proportionate regulation, and warning that excessive compliance requirements often divert scarce resources away from humanitarian work, peacebuilding and human rights protection, while in some countries anti terrorism measures have been used to suppress legitimate civil society activity. He urged governments to keep risk assessments evidence based, regularly updated and developed in close consultation with non profits, arguing that respecting human rights ultimately strengthens counter terrorism effectiveness rather than undermining it. Spaces for Change Board Chairman Samuel Diminas reiterated that Africa loses more than $88 billion annually to illicit financial flows, resources that could otherwise fund schools and healthcare, framing the conference as an effort to strengthen collaboration among governments, regulators, financial institutions and civil society, since effective anti money laundering compliance works best through partnership rather than confrontation.
