Typologies
ASSESSMENT OF COUNTER TERRORIST FINANCING CAPACITIES IN WEST AFRICA
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The scourge of terrorism in West Africa which is sustained by numerous channels of terrorist financing have persisted despite numerous levels of engagements adopted at national and regional levels by the member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to address it. The sources and methodologies for the financing of terrorism in the region have also continued to evolve and include the use of funds derived from licit and illicit activities. These funds are sometimes moved through the relatively under-regulated formal and largely unregulated informal channels to support the perpetration of various forms of terrorist activities. The incidences of terrorist financing have therefore persisted in West Africa irrespective of the measures adopted and targeted at combating them.
This background formed the motive force for this study initiated by the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa, otherwise known as GIABA. The study focuses on the assessment of the capacities of five (5) of GIABA’s terrorism most affected member States, notably Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Nigeria in countering the financing of terrorism. The main objective of the study is to examine the capacities of the selected GIABA member states in countering financing of terrorism (CFT) through the application of international CFT standards and requisite domestic measures with a view to strengthening the capacities of these states in meeting the respective national CFT needs.
August 2020