The Director General of Kenya’s Financial Reporting Centre (FRC), Saitoti Kimerei Maika, has lauded the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for its strategic implementation of Nigeria’s anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT/CPF) frameworks.
Maika, represented by James Manyonge, Director of Legal Compliance and External Relations at Kenya’s FRC, gave the commendation on Thursday, October 9, 2025, during a study visit to the SCUML office in Abuja.
He praised SCUML’s “doggedness and resilience” in implementing global best practices under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2022 — both in alignment with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
According to Maika, the Kenyan team’s visit was aimed at learning from Nigeria’s success in regulating Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs), which are particularly vulnerable to money laundering and terrorist financing. “We are in Nigeria to study how the country has implemented measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing,” he said. “Our focus is on understanding DNFBPs’ supervision, as this remains a major challenge in Kenya.”
Former Head of the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), Professor Abdullahi Shehu, also highlighted the significance of the visit. He noted that SCUML was Africa’s first specialized unit for regulating DNFBPs, a pioneering initiative that earned Nigeria high compliance ratings in 2008. “Nigeria was the first country in Africa to establish such a unit, and I believe Kenya will learn valuable lessons from this experience,” he stated.
Chinedum Odenyi, Divisional Head of Legal and Head of the National Coordination Office at the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), explained that the Kenyan delegation had visited all major stakeholders in Nigeria’s AML/CFT/CPF ecosystem. He said their focus was on understanding Nigeria’s successful coordination among law enforcement agencies and its progress in exiting the FATF grey list.
Welcoming the delegation on behalf of the EFCC Executive Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, SCUML Director and Deputy Commander of the EFCC, DCE Harry Erin, emphasized the importance of collaboration and knowledge sharing among African nations. “Your visit comes at a crucial time in our collective efforts to strengthen AML/CFT/CPF frameworks across the continent,” he said. “Collaboration and peer learning remain central to building resilient systems that protect our economies and financial integrity.”
Olukoyede, in his remarks delivered by Erin, reiterated SCUML’s evolving role — from simple compliance monitoring to a dynamic, risk-based supervisory model — in partnership with self-regulatory bodies, trade associations, and development partners.
He noted that SCUML’s initiatives, such as the Public-Private Sector Dialogue Forum and capacity-building programmes, have been instrumental in deepening compliance across high-risk sectors including real estate, law, accounting, and precious metals.
The visiting team participated in training sessions covering registration and outreach, compliance and enforcement, as well as strategic and data analysis.
