Dakar – The Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) has held a two-day annual briefing session and conference in Dakar.
By Matina Neinee Tukpah, contributing writer
GIABA is a specialized Ecowas institution responsible for the prevention and control of money laundering and terrorist financing in West Africa and has been making significant progress in organizing sensitization programs on the deleterious effects of money laundering and terrorist financing in West Africa.
The session brought together Ambassadors of ECOWAS member states, technical partners, and journalists across the fifteen ECOWAS states.
During the opening session of the conference, the director general, Edwin Harris of GIABA, emphasized the development of effective Anti-Money Laundering, Counter Financial Terrorism and Proliferation financing regimes in the member states. He redefines the shape of the principles that serves as the fulcrum for supporting the works of GIABA.
He said in 2023, GIABA achievement increased in the use of outcomes of typologies by member states to help them understand the prevalent crimes that have the proclivity of undermining the economic sectors and derailing development in member countries.
As part of its efforts to assist member states in building resilient Anti Money Laundering and Counter financing systems, GIABA has over the period unveiled many trends and methods through typologies and research works that facilitated the provision of reasonable technical assistance to member states, he said.
He called on stakeholders to remain committed and to develop strategies for addressing both the existing and the emerging Money Laundering, Terrorism and Proliferation Financing.
In recounting the achievements of GIABA 2023 annual report, Harris highlighted the success of GIABA, ranging from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and from Effectiveness Improvement Program (EIP).
“The program enabled GIABA to improve its operational efficiency and effectiveness as a FATF-Style Regional Body (FSRB) within the agreed timelines,” he said.
As a direct result of the EIP, GIABA introduced new program activities that fully addressed the challenges it faced and increased its advocacy efforts designed to sustain the positive gains achieved, he said.
“GIABA successfully completed the mutual evaluation of all 15 Ecowas member states. In 2024, GIABA will conclude the mutual evaluation of all islands with the adoption of the Management Expense Ratio. and undertake the onsite visit to the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Principe, respectively.”
At the two-day annual briefing session for ambassadors and technical partners, GIABA unveiled a report on the data beneficiaries of capacity building programs sector and number of beneficiaries.
The report shows that nine sectors have attended the program with a total of eight ninety males and three hundred nine females. Also, five hundred and forty persons were trained virtually.
These meetings were aimed at strengthening the visibility around GIABA activities, inform targeted audiences about new developments and solicit their participation in the dissemination of money laundering and counter-financing within the sub-region.