The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) added Kenya to a list of countries that will be closely monitored for its efforts to combat money laundering, terrorist funding, and proliferation financing.

FATF, an international anti-money laundering watchdog, places a country under greater scrutiny when it fails to address the abovementioned flaws, a process known as 'greylisting.'

PHOTO | COURTESY Kenyan currency

The target country also agrees to remedy identified issues within specified deadlines. According to a FATF communiqué, in February 2024, Kenya decided to maintain compliance with international anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (AML/CFT/CPF) requirements.

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Kenya will therefore collaborate with FATF and the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) to review and balance its AML/CFT regulations.

PHOTO | COURTESY Kenyan currency 

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ngung'u also accepted the country's greylisting.

"Kenya has officially been placed on its 'grey list,' indicating enhanced monitoring to ensure compliance with international Anti-Money Laundering, Countering the Financing of Terrorism, and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (AML/CFT/CPF) obligations," according to a statement released by the United Nations.

Other nations on the grey list include Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, the Philippines, Jamaica, Haiti, Croatia, and Syria.

Uganda, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Barbados, and Gibraltar have all been de-listed.