GIABA was established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 2000 to combat terrorists’ financing and fight against money laundering across West Africa.
The Information Manager of GIABA in Nigeria, Mr. Timothy Melaye, said on Wednesday in Lagos that more countries had complied with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2018.
According to Melaye, GIABA had again in 2018 demonstrated its commitment to support countries in West Africa in the fight against money laundering and terrorists financing.
“ECOWAS member countries did well last year in the fight against money laundering and terrorists’ financing in their countries.
“Many of these countries have enacted laws, and today, these countries have different anti-money laundering regimes that are now becoming stronger
and stronger.
“Though we are awaiting statistics from these engagements, it is no longer an easy task for people to launder money again due to the systems on ground,’’ local media reports quoted Melaye as saying
He added that the organization embarked on advocacy visits to raise awareness and support for national authorities in fighting against money laundering and terrorists financing in their countries in 2018.
Melaye explained that the organisation also embarked on mutual evaluation of more West African countries, including Senegal, Cape Verde and Burkina Faso and that in the course of carrying out the mutual evaluation, it was discovered that few more countries were in compliance with the aspirations of GIABA.
He noted that the movement of money across different countries is now increasingly becoming difficult because of the systems in place in these countries and that some people now keep large sums of money in their homes.