SA businesses poised to benefit from EU delisting: Economist

Economist Dawie Roodt says South African businesses are set to benefit after the European Union removed the country from its “High-Risk Third Country Jurisdictions” list.

The move means transactions between South Africa and the EU will no longer be subject to heightened regulatory scrutiny, – a shift expected to support trade and investor confidence.

The decision, published on 9 January 2026 and set to take effect on 29 January 2026, follows South Africa’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in October 2025.

The FATF grey list identifies countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) frameworks, often resulting in stricter oversight of international financial transactions.

South Africa was added to the list in August 2023, following its greylisting by the FATF in February that year — a development that raised concerns about its impact on foreign investment and cross-border financial flows.

Roodt says the EU’s decision will allow businesses to operate with greater certainty and fewer bureaucratic hurdles.

National Treasury has also welcomed the move, while cautioning that challenges remain.

“National Treasury notes that removal from the FATF and EU lists of high-risk jurisdictions does not mean that all South Africa’s challenges in implementing its AML/CFT system have been resolved, and recognises that much work still needs to be done to strengthen deficiencies in the prevention, identification, investigation and prosecution of money laundering and terrorism financing,” the departmet said in a statement.

The EU also removed five other African countries from the list, including Burkina Faso, Mali, and Mozambique.

“Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania have strengthened the effectiveness of their AML/CFT regimes and addressed technical deficiencies to meet the commitments in their action plans on the strategic deficiencies identified by the FATF. The Commission therefore considers that Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania no longer have strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT regimes.”