Emmanuel Addeh in AbujaNigeria and South Africa are set to exit the Financial Action Task Force’s “gray list” as soon as next month, marking a change in fortune for two of the continent’s biggest economies, Bloomberg reported yesterday. Assessors from the FATF conducted on-site visits and noted significant progress in the action plans for South Africa, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Mozambique, according to people familiar with the matter. The two nations were put under heightened scrutiny by the Financial Action Task Force in February 2023 for shortcomings in tackling illicit financial flows. It also referred Bloomberg to a statement issued in July after the FATF’s on-site visit in which it said South Africa had substantially completed all 22 action items required to be removed from the list. “We are excited” about the ramifications of Nigeria being removed from the list, said a government spokesman, Temitope Ajayi.