The Director General of the Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), Edwin W. Harris Jr., called on West African states on June 29, 2026 in Saly to fundamentally transform their compliance mechanisms in order to address the evolving risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.
According to the United Nations, between 2% and 5% of global GDP, or up to $2 trillion, is laundered each year. In West Africa, the digitalization of payments, the rise of crypto-assets, and cross-border financial flows further complicate the detection of illicit networks. In Senegal, these concerns echo the warnings of the National Financial Intelligence Processing Unit (CENTIF).
In West Africa, as you saw recently, Senegal was removed from the FATF grey list because it complied with international standards in October 2024. Other sister countries followed suit, such as Burkina Faso, as well as Mali and Nigeria recently, and Côte d’Ivoire is also on the right track. So these are successes.” Challenges still exist because we are in a dynamic of continuous improvement and the idea is to ensure that our systems are robust enough to be able to deal with financial crime.
Khadija Faye, Secretary General of CENTIF
Meeting in Saly, Senegal, on June 29, 2026, for the 2026 West African Compliance Summit, officials from the Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), regulatory authorities, and the private sector are working on an overhaul of control mechanisms. Assessments conducted by GIABA in its 17 member states highlight persistent weaknesses: insufficient monitoring of transactions, low reporting of suspicious transactions, and due diligence procedures that are still inadequate in the face of new risks.
Organizing this year’s compliance workshop is simply about strengthening this relationship between the public and private sectors. And as you know, compliance officers are the first line of defense in institutions to protect them against money laundering. There are challenges, so the key is the continuous improvement of processes. And as you heard in the speech, we must move beyond our usual practices because technology is now involved, and this meeting provides us with the tools to improve upon our return.
Edwin W. Harris Jr, Director General of GIABA
In its May 2026 report, Senegal’s National Financial Intelligence Processing Unit highlights the growing risks associated with fintechs and crypto-assets. Faced with these new threats, GIABA announces a paradigm shift. Future assessments will primarily measure the effectiveness of national mechanisms and their concrete results in combating financial crime. This represents a major economic challenge: according to the IMF, a country’s inclusion on the FATF’s « grey list » can reduce foreign capital flows by approximately 7.6% of GDP, hence the importance of the reforms undertaken by several states in the region, including Senegal.
