Anti-financial crime summit by CWG Plc and Clari5 brings together Nigeria’s banking executives and regulators

More than 160 senior executives from Nigeria’s banking and financial services industry gathered recently gathered in Lagos for the Anti-Financial Crime Summit 2026, hosted by CWG Plc in partnership with Clari5 — A Perfios Company, under the theme “Strengthening Nigeria’s Anti-Fraud and AML Defence in the AI Era.”

The summit convened Chief Compliance Officers, Chief Audit Executives, Chief Information Security Officers, senior anti-fraud and AML professionals, risk managers, and law enforcement representatives, alongside representatives from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN), the Association of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria (ACCOBIN), among others, for frank, high-level conversations on the future of financial crime prevention in Nigeria.

Delivering the opening address, Adewale Adeyipo, Group Managing Director/CEO of CWG Plc, said Nigeria’s digital growth demands an equally deliberate investment in resilience.

“Every new payment rail, every digital channel, and every innovation expands the opportunity for financial inclusion while simultaneously increasing the attack surface for financial crime. Our collective challenge is to ensure that innovation and trust continue to grow together.”

The summit’s keynote was delivered by Ngover Ihyembe-Nwankwo, Executive Director at NIBSS, who made a compelling case for a fundamental shift in how Nigerian banks approach fraud, moving from reactive detection after the fact, to proactive, intelligence-led prevention at the point of risk. Her address drew on NIBSS’s unique position at the centre of Nigeria’s interbank payments infrastructure to highlight the role of shared data and national-level intelligence in closing blind spots no single institution can address alone.

Dhruv Manga, Chief Revenue Officer at Clari5, emphasized that fragmented and reactive approaches to fraud prevention are no longer adequate in an AI-enabled threat environment.

“Financial crime no longer occurs in silos, and fraud prevention cannot remain siloed either. AI is no longer a future investment, and it is becoming a baseline requirement for effective fraud and AML management.”

The Summit’s flagship panel, moderated by Pattison Boleigha, brought together senior industry leaders for a candid discussion on anti-fraud readiness, AML/CFT/CPF governance, and the convergence of fraud, cybersecurity, and compliance in the AI era. Panellists were united in their assessment that the challenge for Nigerian institutions is no longer whether they have the right tools, but whether those tools are governed effectively, with board-level oversight and demonstrable evidence of operational effectiveness.

Other speakers featured at the Summit included, Solomon Abiakalam, Group Chief Conduct and Compliance Officer at Access Bank; Aina Amah, Chief Audit Executive at Providus Bank and Chair of the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN); Wede Thompson, Chief Compliance Officer at Optimus Bank and representative of Association of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria (ACCOBIN); Festus Amede, Chief Information Security Officer at Zenith Bank; Asst. Commander Bawa Usman Kaltungo, Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC Lagos Zonal Directorate, Afolabi Sobande, Group COO, CWG PLC, and Jayaprakash Kavala, Chief Product Officer, Clari5.

The Summit reinforced a shared sense of urgency among participants, that strengthening Nigeria’s defences against financial crime in the AI era will require closer collaboration, stronger governance, and accelerated technology adoption across the industry.

About CWG Plc

CWG Plc is a leading pan-African technology solutions company headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. Founded in 1992 and listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), CWG delivers IT infrastructure, cloud solutions, managed services, and software to banks, governments, and enterprises across Africa. With a presence in over 17 countries and managing over 60% of Nigeria’s ATM infrastructure, CWG is a trusted technology partner to some of Africa’s largest financial institutions. Visit www.cwg-plc.com.

About Clari5 — a Perfios Company

Clari5 – A Perfios Company, is the leading provider of Real-Time Financial Crime Management platform for banks and other financial institutions worldwide. Powered by AI-native capabilities, Clari5 helps detect, prevent, report and investigate financial crime in real time. Trusted by 60+ banks across 30+ countries for over two decades, Clari5 unifies fraud and AML on a single platform, enabling faster decisions, stronger outcomes, and auditable GenAI at scale. The platform processes 12+ billion transactions every month and protects more than 1 billion accounts. Clari5 is A Perfios Company — India’s largest B2B SaaS TechFin, serving over 1,000 financial institutions across 18 countries. Visit www.clari5.com.