The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has introduced a new public-private partnership framework aimed at improving the sharing of financial intelligence and strengthening Nigeria’s response to money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes.
The initiative is expected to bring together banks, insurance companies, fintech firms, virtual asset service providers and other financial-sector stakeholders to improve cooperation with authorities.
The framework is designed to encourage greater information sharing between the private sector and government agencies, allowing suspicious financial activities to be identified and analysed more effectively.
The NFIU plays a central role in Nigeria’s financial intelligence system, receiving disclosures from reporting organisations, analysing the information and disseminating intelligence to relevant authorities.
The agency has previously stressed the importance of closer cooperation between financial institutions and security agencies, particularly in efforts to disrupt the financial networks supporting terrorism and organised crime.
NFIU Chief Executive Officer Hafsat Abubakar Bakari has said financial institutions remain an important line of defence in detecting transactions that could be linked to illicit activities. The agency has also called for stronger intelligence-sharing arrangements involving banks, fintechs, money-service businesses and security institutions.
The latest framework comes as Nigeria continues to strengthen its anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing systems. The NFIU is also working on updating the country's national risk assessment ahead of Nigeria’s next mutual evaluation by the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) in 2027.
For financial institutions and other participating businesses, the initiative could provide a more structured channel for sharing relevant intelligence while supporting efforts to identify suspicious transactions and financial networks.
The NFIU's move reflects a broader shift towards closer cooperation between government agencies and private-sector organisations in tackling financial crime. Authorities hope that stronger intelligence sharing will help identify illicit financial flows earlier and support investigations by competent agencies.
As the framework develops, its effectiveness will depend on how consistently participating institutions share relevant information while maintaining appropriate safeguards around customer data and financial information.