Let’s wage war against money laundering

Money laundering is one of the biggest challenges for our countries in West Africa, and geting rid of the menace requires concerted efforts, according to the Inter-governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).

Combating money laundering should take center-stage in our part of the world, since the problem is of critical importance to the world community, and requires global action.

To fight the menace with seriousness, we need to put in place improved measures and intensified efforts, as well as strengthen our cooperation in the sub-region.

It is in this regard that we want to commend GIABA and partners for organising a training session for Gambian bankers on anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism.

Money laundering is a global problem, and so the training will greatly help our bankers in dealing with crimes related to money laundering.

Bankers should know that criminals and terrorists always think a step ahead of them, and this sort of training is meant to prepare them to detect those involved in the act and are trying to clean their dirty money through the banking system.

In our view, more counter-measures against money laundering covering the criminal justice system and law enforcement, as well as regulated financial systems are essential.

We would also like to urge GIABA to endeavour to regularly organise such training sessions in the sub-region.

We encourage the participants to dedicate their time to the course, because this would help The Gambia and Africa.

We know that a lot of security measures have been put in place by our banks. However, we must not be complacent.