The Head of Communication and Advocacy at the Inter Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), Mr Timothy Melaye, has called on member countries to strengthen their legal, institutional and operational systems to effectively combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes.
Mr Melaye, who represented the Director-General of GIABA at the opening of a three-day Regional Training Workshop on Investigative Reporting of Economic and Financial Crimes in Accra, said criminals were constantly developing new methods to evade detection and prosecution.
He stressed that countries in the region must therefore develop systems capable of responding effectively to the changing nature of criminal activities.
According to Mr Timothy Melaye, fighting financial crimes cannot depend solely on the existence of laws, but must also involve the effective implementation and enforcement of those laws.
He said sanctions imposed on offenders must be proportionate, persuasive and strong enough to deter others from engaging in similar criminal activities.
“It’s not enough to just have the laws. These laws must also be fully implemented,” he said, stressing that the effectiveness of a country’s anti-money laundering framework must be measured by its ability to produce tangible results.
Mr Melaye explained that GIABA’s mutual evaluation process therefore goes beyond determining whether countries have the required laws and regulations, focusing also on whether the systems established are actually effective.
Using customer due diligence and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements in financial institutions as an example, he said the availability of customer information did not necessarily mean that an effective system was in place.
He explained that if a financial institution had an address for a customer but verification revealed that the address was a cemetery, the information might technically exist but the system would have failed to establish the customer’s true identity.
Mr Melaye said GIABA had therefore consistently encouraged member countries to build systems that work in practice and are capable of detecting and preventing financial crimes.
The GIABA Head of Communication and Advocacy identified terrorist financing and virtual assets as major emerging threats confronting the region.
He said terrorism had persisted in parts of West Africa for more than a decade and warned that efforts to combat terrorism would remain difficult if countries failed to disrupt the financial networks supporting terrorist activities.
Mr Melaye also drew attention to the growing use of virtual assets and virtual asset service providers, particularly in Ghana and Nigeria.
He called for appropriate regulations and stronger technical capacity to prevent virtual currencies from being abused for money laundering, terrorist financing and other criminal activities.
According to him, tracing virtual asset transactions presents different challenges from monitoring conventional financial transactions, making it important for countries to develop specialised expertise and appropriate investigative tools.
Mr Melaye also described journalists as critical stakeholders and partners in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
He said GIABA continued to work with journalists because of persistent gaps in public knowledge and awareness about economic and financial crimes.
He noted that some members of the public, particularly young people, did not always recognise certain forms of fraud and financial crime as criminal activities.
Mr Melaye said investigative journalists had an important responsibility to expose criminal activities, educate the public and help shape discussions on economic and financial crimes.
He said what the media placed in the public domain often became the subject of national discussion, making journalists important actors in setting the public agenda.
He therefore urged journalists to strengthen their investigative skills, expose illicit financial activities and report such crimes appropriately to help make criminals increasingly accountable.
On the growing use of the West African coast as a route for cocaine trafficking, Mr Melaye said drug trafficking and illicit drug-related activities were among the predicate offences associated with money laundering.
He said GIABA was working with law enforcement agencies, particularly drug law enforcement institutions across the region, to address the threat.
According to him, GIABA provides training and research to help law enforcement agencies understand emerging trends and patterns in criminal activities.
He explained that criminals continuously change their methods, making it necessary for law enforcement agencies to understand these changing patterns and develop appropriate responses.
Mr Melaye also called for stronger financial monitoring systems to restrict the movement of illicit funds, urging financial institutions to report suspicious transactions and other activities that could assist authorities in detecting and disrupting criminal networks.
He stressed that governments, law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, journalists and the wider public must work together to protect the region from money laundering, terrorist financing and drug trafficking.
He further urged stakeholders to ensure that West Africa’s young people were protected from illicit drugs and other criminal activities capable of destroying their lives and future.
