Gambia urged to amend deficient Anti-Money Laundering law

The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (GIABA) has urged the Gambia to amend her Anti-Money Laundering laws with a view to bring it in line with the international standards.

The Gambia’s Anti-Money Laundering Act 2003 is not up to standard as it designated only 13 predicate offences for money laundering.  This falls short of the minimum 20 designated categories under the recommendation of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which is the principal international standard body setting on money laundering and terrorist financing.

Dr Abdullahi Shehu, GIABA DG

The director general of GIABA, Dr Abdullahi Shehu said they are negotiating with the Gambian authorities to make sure that they amend and pass a standard anti-money laundering legislation.  He noted that the negotiation has been fruitful as the Gambian authorities had agreed to amend the law.

“Now we are really working together with them to make sure that the law is amended because where there is no law or where the law is weak, it create a vacuum for criminals to take over,” said Dr Shehu, DG of GIABA - a specialized institution of ECOWAS responsible for the prevention and control of money laundering and terrorist financing in the West African sub-region.

Money laundering situation in Gambia

Various reports on the money laundering situation of the Gambia indicates that the menace is increasingly a major problem in the country hence the need for the government to make significant efforts at beefing up its machinery by putting in place appropriate and standard legislation to combat the social evils.

Is Gambia’s real estate industry protected from money laundering?

The rapid development in The Gambia’s real estate sector is increasingly becoming a cause for concern as it is one of the sectors that are most vulnerable to the activities of money launderers.

The country continues to witness tremendous development in the construction and real estate sector with strong foreign direct investment.  Almost all the major coastal and some inland towns and villages have at least one housing estate or individual properties situated randomly for sale. 

However, the increased pace of economic development in the real estate sector also presents a challenge to the country.  This is so because The Gambia is yet to fully develop a regulatory framework to shield itself against criminals using real estate to launder their ill-gotten money or proceeds from criminal activities.

The country’s real estate sector is said to be “currently undergoing a boom period”.  This is happening at a time when drug trafficking is also booming, and drug trafficking is one of the ways criminals derive the funds they use to launder.   

Various researches have proven that The Gambia is vulnerable to the activities of organised crimes, like money laundering, and drug trafficking.  

A recent report by the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) has revealed that the laundering of illicit money is increasingly a major problem in the country.

The real estate is one of the sectors cited by the report to be most vulnerable to money laundering.

The sector has long been the preferred choice of criminals for hiding ill-gotten gains, and manipulating property prices is one of the oldest known ways to transfer proceeds illegally between parties to a deal.  

GIABA organizes open house forum

The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) has organized a day-long open house forum on “The Role of Youth in Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (ML/TF) in West Africa” on Thursday, 10th March 2011. Pic: Dr. Abdullahi Shehu, Director General of GIABA Held in Accra, Ghana, the event which was the fourth edition in the series of GIABA Open House Forum, serves as a platform to educate stakeholders from ECOWAS member States on the deleterious effects and debilitating impact of money laundering and financing of terrorism on peace, security and sustainable development in West Africa. The Open House is one of the awareness and advocacy strategy adopted by GIABA to sensitise stakeholders particularly the youths on the threats of money laundering and financing of terrorism and to enable them to advocate for strong AML/CFT measures in the region. GIABA is a specialized ECOWAS institution as well as FATF- Style Regional Body established in the year 2000 by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS with the mandate to protect the national economies and the financial systems of member States from the laundering of proceeds of crimes in particular money laundering and terrorist financing. As part of its sustained efforts to raise awareness against the twin scourges of ML/TF in the region, GIABA in its 2011-2014 Strategic Plan considered the promotion of strategic partnerships with the civil society and development partners of utmost importance especially in the dawn of regional integration with its attendance challenges including curbing transnational organized crimes. About 100 participants comprises students of tertiary institutions, civil society organizations and the media including top government officials and regulatory agencies involved in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing are attended the event. The event was declared open by the Honourable Minster of Justice and Attorney General of the Republic of Ghana, while the Director General of GIABA, Dr Abdullahi Shehu and GIABA National Correspondent of Ghana, Mr Samuel T. Essel delivered a keynote address and welcoming remark respectively. Highlight at the occasion were road show procession and presentation of lectures by GIABA faculty and regional expert on anti-money laundering and combating of terrorism financing (AML/CFT) regime.

“Gambia beefs up machinery to combat money laundering:” Governor, CBG

As various reports on the money laundering situation of the Gambia indicates that the menace is increasingly a major problem in the country, the government “has made significant efforts at beefing up its machinery to combat the social evils of money laundering and terrorism financing”, said the Governor of Central Bank of The Gambia.  File Pic: CBG Governor, Amadou Colley Hon. Amadou Colley said The Gambia has in place various interventions towards combating money laundering and other financial crimes which include the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2003 and the Anti-Terrorism Act 2002. However, Gambia’s Anti-Money Laundering Act falls short of expectation as it designated only 13 predicate offences for money laundering and this falls short of the minimum 20 designated categories under the recommendation of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which is the principal international standard body setting on money laundering and terrorist financing. The CBG Governor was speaking on Monday at the opening ceremony of a five-day regional course on combating money laundering and other financial crimes organised by West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) with the technical support from the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), a sub-regional body set up by ECOWAS to fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. Held at Paradise Suites Hotel in Kololi, the course was meant to equip participants with critical skills in tracking money laundering and financial crimes perpetrated through the financial system in the sub-region. The training brought together senior officials of central banks, deposit money banks, and other institutions responsible for ensuring compliance with anti-money laundering, from various countries in the sub-region. Governor Colley said the Central Bank of The Gambia, which is one of the two institutions responsible for Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing Terrorism (AML/CFT), through the Financial Intelligence Unit, is working closely with the banks not only in putting measures in place for customer due diligence but the detection of suspicious transactions for reporting purposes. Like the previous report, the 2009 report of GIABA indicates that the laundering of illicit money is increasingly a major problem in The Gambia. However, “its magnitude or severity remains relatively difficult to determine.” It added that porous borders, weak controls, prevailing poverty, dominance of cash transaction, massive inflows of tourists and anecdotal evidence of increasing drug-related and other criminal activities are all factors contributing to increase money laundering risk environment in The Gambia. The Central Bank Governor said money laundering can occur in any country and it could have devastating effects on national economies, particularly for developing countries. “This is so because developing economies tend to be small and, therefore, more susceptible to disruption from criminal influences,” he explained. “Money laundering also has adverse macroeconomic effects and affects exchange rate through large transfers and capital flows.  Unchecked, money laundering may engender contempt of the law, thereby undermining public confidence in legal system and in the financial system, which in turn promotes other economic crime such as fraud, exchange control violation and tax evasion,” he added. Prof. Akpan H Ekpo, director general of WAIFEM said money laundering is a key threat to financial stability in any economy “more so to small and fragile economies in our sub-region”. He said financial system stability is a major prerequisite for economic growth and development. He noted that a number of predicate offences for money laundering are common in our region.  These, he said, include drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking and currency counterfeiting.

GAWFA captures global award to Gambia’s pride

Gambia Women’s Finance Association (GAWFA) has, for the first time, emerged victorious at a global competition that focuses on how to manage risk in an uncertain economic climate while continuing to meet the needs of women entrepreneurs. Pic: GAWFA CEO Njie-Mbye Held in New York, USA, from 5 to 8 April this year, the 9th annual competition attracted participants from all over the world. Known as the Capital Market Conference and Investors Forum, the competition was organised this year on the theme “Liquidity Management" by the Women's World Banking, in collaboration with JP Morgan-Chase, one of the largest financial institutions in the United States. GAWFA took first in the first round of the competition and came out second in the final round, a step behind Xac Bank of Mongolia. Oley Njie-Mbye, who represented GAWFA at the conference, told Marketplace that the conference brought together over 400 men and women from different countries around the world to celebrate women entrepreneurship and to support financial inclusion for the poor. GAWFA’s chief executive officer, who was accompanied to the conference by Bakary Dibba, accountant at GAWFA, said the conference gave the participants the opportunity to share best practices in the field of management, gender and finance. Mrs Njie-Mbye stated that the agenda of the conference focused on issues at macro and local levels, challenges facing the sector as well as panels on product diversification and risk management. She said the snapshot of the competition included GAWFA products, offering financial highlights, client segments, key statistics and thorough analysis of GAWFA. CEO Njie-Mbye credited the staff of GAWFA for their team work, dedication and support. “This is why we won the award,” she said, adding that it was the support and encouragement of the staff that resulted in the company winning the award and making the whole of Gambia proud. “The award is not a victory for GAWFA alone but for The Gambia as a whole, because considering the size of the countries that participated in this competition, GAWFA becoming the champion is a great history for The Gambia,” she said. GAWFA is committed to building upon the existing strength as its remediate weakness to confront an increasingly competitive environment, Mrs Njie Mbye noted,  while calling on investors both individuals and institutions in The Gambia and beyond to invest and buy GAWFA’s shares at D10 per share. GAWFA, the first and largest microfinance institution in The Gambia, was established in 1987 and has been an affiliate of the Women’s World Banking network (WWB) headquartered in New York, USA. The vision and mission of GAWFA is the transformation of the financial and social system of The Gambia “to assure an equitable distribution of productive resources between men and women”. The association aims to build and maintain a viable and sustainable women’s organisation that will continue to serve as a financial intermediary to enhance the entrepreneurship development of low-income women, promote capacity building, eradicate poverty, and increase women’s participation in the socio-economic development of The Gambia.

GIABA organizes open house forum

The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) has organized a day-long open house forum on “The Role of Youth in Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (ML/TF) in West Africa” on Thursday, 10th March 2011. Pic: Dr. Abdullahi Shehu, Director General of GIABA Held in Accra, Ghana, the event which was the fourth edition in the series of GIABA Open House Forum, serves as a platform to educate stakeholders from ECOWAS member States on the deleterious effects and debilitating impact of money laundering and financing of terrorism on peace, security and sustainable development in West Africa. The Open House is one of the awareness and advocacy strategy adopted by GIABA to sensitise stakeholders particularly the youths on the threats of money laundering and financing of terrorism and to enable them to advocate for strong AML/CFT measures in the region. GIABA is a specialized ECOWAS institution as well as FATF- Style Regional Body established in the year 2000 by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS with the mandate to protect the national economies and the financial systems of member States from the laundering of proceeds of crimes in particular money laundering and terrorist financing. As part of its sustained efforts to raise awareness against the twin scourges of ML/TF in the region, GIABA in its 2011-2014 Strategic Plan considered the promotion of strategic partnerships with the civil society and development partners of utmost importance especially in the dawn of regional integration with its attendance challenges including curbing transnational organized crimes. About 100 participants comprises students of tertiary institutions, civil society organizations and the media including top government officials and regulatory agencies involved in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing are attended the event. The event was declared open by the Honourable Minster of Justice and Attorney General of the Republic of Ghana, while the Director General of GIABA, Dr Abdullahi Shehu and GIABA National Correspondent of Ghana, Mr Samuel T. Essel delivered a keynote address and welcoming remark respectively. Highlight at the occasion were road show procession and presentation of lectures by GIABA faculty and regional expert on anti-money laundering and combating of terrorism financing (AML/CFT) regime.