It’s All ‘Fun and Games—Until They Come to Measure the Culture

Folashade Oluwasanya writes that Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list did not happen by chance. It was the outcome of years of regulatory reforms, institutional coordination, private-sector cooperation, and a determined effort to strengthen the country’s defenses against money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit financial activities. Among the sectors that played a significant but often underappreciated role in this achievement is Nigeria’s gaming industry. Long viewed by international assessors as a sector vulnerable to financial crime risks, gaming operators found themselves at the center of a broader national effort to improve compliance, strengthen oversight, and align with global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing standards

Nigeria’s gaming sector helped secure the country’s Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list exit. The grey list refers to countries identified by FATF as having strategic deficiencies in their regimes for countering money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. By being placed on this list, a country commits to resolving these deficiencies swiftly and is subjected to increased FATF monitoring.