‎𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗣𝗿𝗼’𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮‎

‎• DataPro’s two-day training on countering proliferation financing has ended, and it leaves compliance teams with a practical plan.
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‎• The five modules covered targeted financial sanctions (TFS), PF risk assessment, customer due diligence, transaction monitoring and reporting.
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‎• Nigeria is off the FATF grey list, but regulators expect stronger CPF controls than ever.
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‎DataPro has wrapped up its two-day virtual training, “Countering Proliferation Financing Risks: The Compliance Framework.” The programme gave financial institutions (FIs) and designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs) a structured way to deal with one of the least understood areas of financial crime compliance, Confiance News has learned.
‎According to the course outline obtained by Confiance News, the five modules were designed to take participants from basic concepts all the way to reporting. As a result, the training was as much about doing the work as about understanding it.
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‎𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲
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‎Details confirmed by Confiance News show that the training took place on Zoom on Tuesday, October 27 and Wednesday, October 28, 2026, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM each day. It was open to compliance officers, risk managers, employees and directors of FIs and DNFBPs.
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‎𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀
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‎Proliferation financing means providing money or financial services that support the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Many institutions still treat it as a side issue to anti-money laundering work. That view is risky, however.
‎Under FATF Recommendation 7, countries must apply targeted financial sanctions under UN Security Council resolutions. They must also freeze, without delay, the funds and assets of designated persons and entities. In practice, this duty falls on the banks, fintechs, lawyers, real estate firms and other businesses that handle the money.
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‎DataPro’s statement sighted by Confiance News also points to gaps highlighted in recent GIABA reports. In other words, regulators across West Africa are now looking past whether institutions have CPF policies and asking whether those policies actually work.
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‎𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀
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‎Confiance News reviewed the syllabus. Here is what each module offers compliance teams.
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‎𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
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‎Module 1 set out the conceptual framework for countering proliferation financing. This matters because staff who cannot tell PF apart from money laundering or terrorist financing are likely to miss the warning signs. The main lesson is that PF needs its own way of thinking, focused on sanctioned parties, dual-use goods and front companies, rather than only on the origin of illicit funds.
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‎𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟰𝗣𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸
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‎Module 2 dealt with the “4Ps”: internal policies, programmes, processes and procedures. The takeaway is simple but important. Regulators judge institutions by what they do, not by what is written in a policy document. So a CPF policy that is never turned into daily procedures gives very little protection during an inspection.
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‎𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗙 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀
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‎Module 3 covered risk assessment for PF compliance. In this case, participants learned to identify where their own exposure lies, whether through customers, products, delivery channels or geographic links. As FATF’s guidance on PF risk assessment makes clear, a risk-based approach does not replace the mandatory, full application of targeted financial sanctions.
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‎𝗗𝘂𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴
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‎Module 4, arguably the most practical part of the course, focused on customer due diligence and transaction monitoring. The key lesson is that screening customers against sanctions lists when they first open an account is not enough. Instead, institutions need ongoing monitoring, beneficial ownership checks and the ability to freeze assets quickly once a match is confirmed.
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‎𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸
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‎Module 5 closed the course with the reporting framework for PF compliance. After all, spotting a red flag is of little use if it is never escalated. Participants were taken through how to document, escalate and report suspicious activity and sanctions matches to the relevant authorities on time.
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‎𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁
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‎The training also comes at an important moment for Nigeria. The FATF removed Nigeria from its grey list in October 2025 after the country completed all 19 items on its action plan. Even so, legal analysts at The Legal 500 note that delisting does not end scrutiny. Instead, it creates an ongoing duty to keep the AML/CFT/CPF regime effective so the country is not listed again.
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‎Taken together, the five modules give FIs and DNFBPs a practical plan for sustaining that progress, Confiance News gathered. For institutions that missed this edition, the message is clear: CPF compliance is now a core requirement, not an optional extra.
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