Group Holds Stakeholders Workshop On Combating Money laundering And Terrorism Financing
By Stephen Fajonyomi, Abuja, Nigeria.
The Inter-Governmental Group of Action against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) is holding a 5-day Regional Stakeholders’ Workshop on the outcomes of the Typologies’ Study of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risks linked to Corruption in West Africa.
The objective of the workshop is to review the existing legal, regulatory, and institutional framework in countering corruption, analyse typical Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (ML/TF) cases related to corruption, as well as map out strategic and operational measures that can effectively protect economies and safeguard the integrity of national financial systems against corruption and related ML/TF activities.
According to GIABA, the Group has earlier conducted typologies study on money laundering and terrorist financing linked to corruption in West Africa which was adopted by the 36th GIABA Technical Commission/Plenary in April 2022 in Accra, Ghana.
The report provided an in-depth understanding of the risk factors, trends and methods that can assist competent authorities in developing appropriate countermeasures. It also contained key recommendations to address structural and systemic deficiencies, including the lack of regulatory implementation of corruption prevention systems and the lack of compliance monitoring & enforcement mechanisms.
In his opening remarks at the Stakeholders workshop, Mr. Muazu Umaru, Director of Policy & Research, GIABA, who represented the Director General of GIABA, Mr. Edwin W. Harris, Jr, noted that “Stakeholders engagement is one of the avenues GIABA utilises to disseminate the outcome of its research works and to further engage with the relevant stakeholders with a view to exploring opportunities to bring about the change we all desire to see with regard to combatting money laundering and terrorist financing in our member states”.
He emphasized that “Since the revision of the Financial Action Task Force’s standards on Combatting Money Launderining and Terrorist Financing and proliferation financing in 2012, the focus has shifted from rule based approach to risk based approach. Countries are required to fully identify, assess and understand the different risks of money laundering and terrorist financing they face, and ensure that they take all the necessary measures to mitigate those risks. This approach ensures that limited resources are appropriately allocated to priorities in an efficient and effective manner.
GIABA, as the FATF-Style regional body for West Africa supports its member states to enhance their risk understanding through the conduct of different types of regional and thematic assessments and helping individual countries to conduct their national risk assessments”
He noted that “Sadly, corruption is the most potent enabler and facilitator of many criminal activities in our member states. It is also a major hinderance to countries’ ability to build robust and effective AML/CFT regimes.
Various reports and assessments have pointed out that sub- saharan Africa has the highest level of corruption in the world. While we are free to contest this assertion, we also need recognise the impact of corruption on our countries, the welfare and wellbeing of our people and the overall developmental retardation we are faced with. Corruption is now the number one impediment to the development of our region and the African continent in general.”
He buttressed that “while progress is being made by a number of countries, this is still not commensurate with the level of corruption prevailing in our countries. Corruption has become a wicked problem for the African continent – it is hydra-headed. Corruption has taken deep roots in our societies and has become systematic, permeating all sectors of the economy despite all the efforts being made to counter it by different governments and other factors.”
He further appealed that “Citizens should be fully mobilised against corruption at all levels. Let us aim at treating the disease instead of the symptoms. We can do it if we commit to it.
It is my hope that the participants at this workshop will deliberate exptensively on these matters and come up with the way forward that will make us to turn the tide against corruption in our region. Let us all agree that the corrupt cannot fight corruption because they benefit from it. Fighting corruption must begin with those who fight it”.
The workshop has participants drawn from anti-corruption agencies, financial intelligence units, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, judges, and other relevant actors playing key roles in the detection, investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of corruption cases in GIABA member states.
