The chief executive of ThetaRay, a fintech software and big data analytics company, Mr Brad Levy, says the recent directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) requiring financial institutions to deploy automated anti-money laundering (AML) systems is a strategic leap towards building a modern financial system optimised for digital trade.
The central bank issued a circular on March 10 requiring banks, mobile money operators and other regulated institutions to deploy automated AML solutions within 18 to 24 months. The move signals a shift by the regulator to tighten oversight and reduce financial crime risks in Nigeria’s banking system, as digital transactions continue to grow.
Mr Levy, whose ThetaRay works with financial institutions and fintechs across Africa, including in Nigeria, to implement AI-powered AML transaction monitoring solutions capable of detecting complex financial crime patterns in real time, noted that Nigeria is applying revolutionary methods in financial regulation—skipping older, manual compliance systems and going straight to advanced, AI-driven ones.
“The CBN’s mandate is Nigeria’s ‘mobile phone’ moment for financial integrity. Just as Africa bypassed landlines for mobile and the U.S. lagged on chip-and-pin tech, Nigeria is now leapfrogging the failing, manual ‘landline’ era of compliance. By mandating AI, Nigeria is skipping decades of Western technical debt to build a 21st-century infrastructure of trust that moves at the speed of modern trade,” he told Business Post.
Automation and AI in AML have shifted from a competitive advantage to a regulatory requirement, and the new CBN mandate will help Nigerian banks and fintechs in several areas, including achieving transparency, as transactions are continuously monitored and recorded in real time. This allows for the immediate detection of irregularities such as fraud or money laundering, significantly reducing the window for illicit activities to go unnoticed.
The new rules could drive significant investment in compliance technology, as institutions move away from manual processes that are slower and more prone to errors.
The requirements cover key areas such as transaction monitoring, customer due diligence, risk profiling, case management and regulatory reporting, all of which must now be automated.
The CBN’s directive comes amid intensifying global regulatory pressure on financial institutions to strengthen AML controls, particularly within rapidly expanding digital economies. For Nigeria, these new requirements are poised to significantly transform how banks approach compliance while also opening up new opportunities for startups to deliver specialised compliance and regulatory technology solutions.