More than 160 senior executives from Nigeria's banking and financial services industry 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.”
Summit convenes top compliance and security leaders
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. Attendees included officials 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), and the Association of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria (ACCOBIN), among others. The event facilitated frank, high-level conversations on the future of financial crime prevention in Nigeria.
Opening address: Digital growth demands resilience
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.”
Keynote: Shift from reactive to proactive prevention
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.
Clari5: AI is now a baseline requirement
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.”
Flagship panel: Governance and effectiveness in the AI era
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 and participants
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 ACAEBIN; Wede Thompson, Chief Compliance Officer at Optimus Bank and representative of ACCOBIN; Festus Amede, Chief Information Security Officer at Zenith Bank; Assistant Commander Bawa Usman Kaltungo, Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC Lagos Zonal Directorate; Afolabi Sobande, Group COO of CWG PLC; and Jayaprakash Kavala, Chief Product Officer of Clari5.
Summit reinforces urgency for collaboration and technology adoption
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.
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.
