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Niger The Republic of Niger shares borders with seven countries, including 1,500 km with Nigeria. The porosity of these borders makes them difficult to control given the inadequate means of this state. This naturally favors the development of intense trafficking in weapons, drugs, tobacco, art pieces and human beings, resulting in large-scale criminality in the north and east of the country, and thus Niger is presented as a converging and transit point of criminal groups from Africa to Europe. The population of Niger is 60% illiterate and lives in abject poverty. The economy of Niger is characterized by a predominantly informal sector, and 80% of the GDP comes from the agro-pastoral sector, while the tertiary sector accounts for 10% of activities. The habit of banking is very low, and so commercial transactions are predominantly cash-based. It is worth noting that the September 23, 1999 Order no 99.42 of 23 concerning the fight against drugs in Niger was the first one to criminalize money laundering. Its Article 101 makes it a serious offence punished by 10–20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 50 million CFA francs. 104. Law 2004.41 of June 8, 2004 was enacted on September 14, 2004 and published in the Special Official Gazette no 15 of September 16, 2004, p. 1069 ff. The CENTIF was created by Decree no 2004-262/PRN/MEF of September 14, 2004, which describes its organization and functioning.This text reproduces the arrangements contained in Article 16 ff. of the aforementioned law. The creation of the CENTIF is provided for under this framework, and has the task of collecting, exploiting and processing all information transmitted by the obligors. The CENTIF constitutes the centerpiece of the fight against money laundering; it is composed of eight members including one chairperson. It relies on a network of correspondents in the different services and financial bodies of the state concerned that are involved in the struggle.
The CENTIF was, however, destroyed by an accidental fire in June 2007. This is a major setback to the country’s efforts to strengthen the CENTIF. The Director General of GIABA visited Niamey on 6–9 July 2007 to sympathize with the peoples and Government of Niger on the unfortunate incident. In an attempt to create a stronger spirit of teamwork and synergy among the Ministry of Finance, the FIU, stakeholders and development partners, the Director General also discussed issues of better collaboration and stronger mutual trust among all involved in the fight against ML and TF in Niger.
The Republic of Niger recognizes its commitment to the Security Council Resolution n° 1377/2001 of September 28, 2001 acting by virtue of Chapter VII of the Charter to address international terrorism. In applying this Resolution, the Government created, by Order n° 06/MFA/C/IA of October 24, 2006 and under the authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, a Committee against Terrorism composed of ten members from the various ministerial departments, all of whom were high-level executives from the Central Administration and the Armed Forces of Niger. The Government of Niger, by Order no 1999 MT/D/SG of July 8, 2003, created the Inteministerial Committee at the Ministry of Interior and Decentralization, which ensures its supervision as required by GIABA. The committee consists of the representatives of the Ministries of Interior, Justice, and Finance, the BCEAO, ECOBANK, BIA, BOA, and BNCI. The functions of the National Committee are:
1) To sensitize policy decision-makers (Government, Parliament), economic, social, financial and monetary stakeholders and the population in general on the necessity to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism;
2) To propose appropriate measures to fight ML/FT;
3) To assess the progress made and the efficiency of measures taken at the national level;
4) To prepare for the authorities or empowered parties representing Niger at GIABA meetings any files needed for their information;
5) To propose any such measures as would enable the application by Niger of decisions adopted by GIABA. 107. However, this National Follow-up Committee of Niger has no Action Plan. It wishes to benefit from training in this area in order to identify its priorities and project them over time in AML/CFT terms.
In the institutional AML/CFT mechanism, the Ministry of Economy and Finances has an important role to play. In this respect, it relies on Regulation n° 09/98/CM/WAEMU concerning the external financial relations of the member States of this sub-regional organization. This document provides that the Ministry of Economy and Finances should exercise full authority over public and private institutions intervening in this domain.
The power to authorize foreign transfers by delegation is held by the BCEAO, or to establish documents relating to pre-required applications for authorization under its competence. In application of this delegation, the BCEAO must report monthly to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on authorizations granted in the framework of this attribution.
