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.
