The European Union has removed Nigeria and South Africa from its list of High-Risk Third Country Jurisdictions, marking a major boost for financial transactions, trade and investment between the affected countries and the EU.
South Africa’s National Treasury disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, saying the decision was published on January 9, 2026, and will take effect from January 29.
Other African countries removed from the list alongside Nigeria and South Africa are Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique and Tanzania.
The delisting follows the removal of the affected countries from the Financial Action Task Force, FATF, grey list in October 2025. The FATF grey list places countries under increased monitoring over concerns about money laundering and terrorism financing.
According to the Treasury, South Africa was added to the EU high-risk list in August 2023 as an automatic result of its FATF grey listing earlier that year.
Explaining the impact of the decision, the Treasury said being on the EU list meant tougher checks on financial transactions.
“EU law requires that financial institutions must apply a higher level of scrutiny to transactions involving countries deemed to be high risk,” it said, noting that this led to stricter documentation, continuous monitoring and senior management approval.
These measures, it added, often slowed down payments, trade and investment flows.
The European Commission acknowledged improvements made by Nigeria, South Africa and the other countries in strengthening their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing systems.
In a statement, the Commission said, “Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania have strengthened the effectiveness of their anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism regimes.”
It added, “The Commission therefore considers that these countries no longer have strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism regimes.”
However, South Africa’s Treasury cautioned that the removal from the EU and FATF lists does not mean all problems have been solved.
It said, “Much work still needs to be done to strengthen deficiencies in the prevention, identification, investigation and prosecution of money laundering and terrorism financing.”
The Treasury confirmed that South Africa will enter a new round of FATF evaluation in the coming months, with a final report expected in October 2027.
While the EU decision removes the legal requirement for enhanced due diligence on transactions involving the delisted countries, the Treasury noted that individual EU financial institutions are still free to apply their own risk assessment policies.
For Nigeria, the delisting is expected to ease financial transactions with Europe and support trade and investment, especially as the country continues reforms aimed at improving transparency and financial compliance.
The EU said the decision reflects confidence in the progress made by the affected African countries, even as authorities are urged to sustain reforms and strengthen institutions to prevent financial crimes.
