There is a need
to re-examine the anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism
(AML/CFT) measures in West African countries to ensure they do not induce superficial
compliance by countries, said the director general of the Inter-Governmental
Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), Dr
Abdullahi Shehu.
 |
| Dr Abdullahi Shehu |
Dr Shehu
observed that the current AML/CFT framework may force money launderers and
extremist groups to make frequent tactical changes and thus produces more
grievances or fertile grounds for the recruitment of new set of criminals.
Most parts of
the AML/CFT framework of countries in the sub-region are products of imperfect
and incomplete information, hence the need to establish and address the root
causes of terrorism to ensure the successes recorded by the AML/CFT framework
are enduring, Dr Shehu said while presenting a paper on the challenges
of implementing counter-financing of
terrorism regimes in West Africa at the training workshop on AML/CFT for North
and West African states organised by the Swiss Confederation and the Federal
Republic of Nigeria in collaboration with Giaba held in Abuja, Nigeria, from December
11 to 13, 2012.
“The benefits of
implementing effective AML/CFT regimes are enormous,” the Giaba DG said. “Giaba will continue to support its members to
implement effective AML/CFT measures that facilitate optimal deployment of
resources and proper sequencing of intervention activities.”
For him, the
adoption of international AML/CFT standards is not the magic wand towards
eradicating money laundering and financing terrorism, but they are milestones
towards building enabling framework that would provide the roadmap for achieving
the ultimate goal of a crime-free society.
He said Giaba, an arm of ECOWAS
established to fight money laundering and terrorist financing in West Africa, is
mandated to develop strategies and mechanisms for the prevention and control of
the twin crimes in the sub-region.
Low
capacity hinders implementation of FATF Recommendations
All the West African countries which constitute GIABA Member States
are facing daunting challenges of low technical know-how and the financial
resources to implement the global standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), global pacesetters
in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.
