Financial Intelligence Unit of the Gambia (FIU) on Monday 18th March, 2019 engaged all relevant stakeholders in the fight against Money Laundering and Terrorism at a local hotel in Gambia.
This training is sought to enlighten Lawyers, Accountants and Notaries in the Gambia on a project called “Strengthening Anti-Money Laundering Capacities in West Africa “SAWMA” In his opening statements, the Solicitor General and Legal Secretary Cherno Marenah said the project is of great benefit to West African States in terms of capacity building and the establishment of systems aimed at combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing.
Marenah stressed that money laundering and terrorism financing are crimes that have detrimental impacts on any country; however, he said a common misconception is; it is belief they only affect the financial sector which according to him could not be farther from reality. The impacts of these twin menaces he explained cut across various economic sectors and their respective professions are no exception. Despite the efforts taken by the Gambia to capacities personnels on combating money laundering and terrorist financing in which the financial crime continues to occur both locally and global stage.
Baba Barrow CEO of Gambia Institute of Chartered Accountants expressed readiness on partnering for the shift intervention on this menace by stakeholders to not only implement systems that conform to international best practices, but also promote the integrity and soundness of the Gambia financial system. He extended gratitude to the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), the European Union (EU) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of The Gambia for organizing this training workshop.
The Director of Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and GIABA National correspondent Alagie Darboe expressed his profound appreciation for the tremendous efforts made by the EU and GIABA in combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing within the sub-region and for their continuous partnership with and support for the FIU and other Gambian authorizes. Darboe revealed that between US$1.5 Trillion to US$3.3 Trillion of Criminal proceeds are laundered every year; from which an estimated US$59 Billion to US$60 billion is leaving the African continent annually. This he said is more than twice the amount of development assistance sub-Saharan Africa receives from donors. CEO Darboe highlighted the amount of loss African countries encountered due to drug trafficking, document fraud, tax evasion, human trafficking, bribery and corruption He concluded.