Four African countries have been removed from a global watchdog's list of countries subject to increased monitoring for illicit money flows as Kenya remains in the ‘grey-list’.
The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) made the announcement at the end of a plenary meeting on Friday, removing Africa’s first and second biggest economies of South African and Nigeria.
Commodity-rich Mozambique and Burkina Faso were removed from its 'grey list' during a meeting in the French capital where Kenya was represented by the Director General of Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) Saitoti ole Maika.
South Africa and Nigeria were added to the FATF's list of countries under special scrutiny in 2023, while Mozambique has been there since 2022. Burkina Faso was added in 2021.
"With each plenary we seek to make the world's defence against criminals stronger, and we have made a number of updates on our grey list," Elisa de Anda Madrazo, president of the FATF, told a press conference. "And this plenary has been very positive, a positive story for the continent of Africa," she said.
In June this year, Kenya’s neighbour, Tanzania, as well as another African country of Mali, were removed from the list.
The Task Force its report of 17th March 2025 indicated that Kenya has made progress in resolving some of the technical compliance shortcomings identified in its 2022 Mutual Evaluation Report.
However, despite the positive reports, Kenya remains under active watch having been included in the grey list alongside Namibia on 24th February 2024 after a ten-year hiatus.
Kenya was added for failing to adequately combat money laundering and terrorism financing. The grey list signifies that a country has strategic deficiencies in its AML/CFT regime and is subject to increased monitoring.
On 17 June 2025, President William Ruto signed the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating of Terrorism Financing Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 into law.
The act is intended to address deficiencies in Kenya’s money laundering and terrorism financing framework as identified by the FATF, the global watchdog for these crimes.
Grey-listing means the country is under increased monitoring and is working with the FATF to address its inability to counter money laundering and terror financing using existing laws, policies and strategies.
It adversely impacts Kenya’s investment attractiveness and undermines its credibility as a reliable regional partner.
On June 10, 2025, the European Commission (EU) added Kenya to its list of high-risk third countries for Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism, and Countering Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) deficiencies
“Identifying and listing high-risk jurisdictions remains a crucial tool to safeguard the integrity of the EU’s financial system… an update to the EU list reiterates our strong commitment to aligning with international standards, particularly those set by the FATF,” Maria Luís Albuquerque, Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments said. “We trust that the co-legislators will move swiftly to endorse this important step.”
