Very valuable cautions Kukeh. Thanx for sharing. It is worth noting that
the Nigerian judiciary in Gambia plays a significant role in cleaning dirty
money for Nigerian businessmen and women Africa-wide and worldwide.
Word to the wise.
Haruna.
In a message dated 2/19/2010 11:33:50 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
I hope
the recent pronouncements of Central Bank of Nigeria officials on
corruption and money laundering in the sub-region are not being
ignored
in Banjul. First it was the Governor and now an assistant director
from
Central Bank of Nigeria all "presenting lectures" on money
laundering
and financial crimes. Its interesting to note that since 2000,
the
Gambia has welcomed 8 Nigerian banks (according to my last count).
While
this may be good news for investment, jobs and of course, help The
Gambia realize the "Singapore of West Africa" dream, we must not
ignore
Nigeria's call for prudence.
Malanding
Jaiteh
Courtesy:
http://observer.gm/africa/gambia/article/money-laundering-a-major-economic-crime-in-africa
Money laundering: A major economic crime in
Africa
<http://observer.gm/africa/gambia/article/money-laundering-a-major-economic-crime-in-africa#map>
Africa <http://observer.gm/africa/news> » Gambia
<http://observer.gm/africa/gambia/news>
Friday, February 19,
2010
Dr Ngozi Egbuna, assistant director at the Monetary Policy Department
of
the Central Bank of Nigeria, has described money laundering as one of
the major economic and financial crimes in Africa.
She emphasised
that the phenomenon is a financial crime that affects
every individual,
business and government, and that it has the potential
of fueling crime
and ultimately eroding the individual rights of
citizens, thus affecting
national and international economic performance.
The Nigerian economist
made these observations Tuesday while presenting
a lecture on money
laundering and financial crimes as part of the
ongoing regional training
seminar on economic and financial analysis for
journalists organised by
the West African Institute for Financial and
Economic Management (WAIFEM)
in Lagos, Nigeria.
Dr Egbuna observed that financial crime and money
laundering is
increasingly becoming a global phenomenon and threat to
international
banking as well as the civil and political spheres. The
extent to which
money is laundered globally, according to her, is
estimated to be
between $500 billion and $1trillion. She however noted
that the wide
range of the estimate highlights the difficulties associated
with
obtaining accurate data on this problem.
This, she said is due
to the fact that only a limited number of
countries have set up anti-money
laundering regimes that are up and
running and are therefore able to
provide appropriate statistics. "For
the fact that setting-up of
anti-money laundering regimes is only
gaining momentum indicates that it
will take some time to build up
accurate statistics on money laundering,"
she stated.
Commenting on the negative consequences of the menace, Dr
Egbuna stated
that money laundering has potentially devastating economic,
security,
and social consequences. She noted that it provides the fuel for
drug
dealers, terrorists, illegal arm dealers, corrupt public officials
amongst others to operate and expand their criminal enterprises. "Money
laundering can also adversely affect currencies and interest rates as
launderers reinvest funds where their schemes are less likely to be
detected, rather than where rates of return are higher," she pointed
out.
She further added: "Money laundering can increase the threat of
monetary
instability due to misallocation of resources from artificial
distortions in asset and commodity prices."
Dr Egbuna added that
money laundering diminishes government tax revenue
and indirectly harms
honest taxpayers, while also making government tax
collection more
difficult. She observed that in today?s global economy,
a nation cannot
afford to have its reputation and its financial
institutions be tarnished
by associating with money laundering.
"Confidence in a nation?s markets is
eroded by money laundering of
criminal proceeds, widespread financial
fraud, insider trading of
securities, and embezzlement," she
highlighted.
She stressed that once a country?s financial reputation
has been
damaged, reviving it could be difficult. She pointed out that it
requires significant government resources to rectify the problem, which
could have been prevented with proper anti-money laundering controls.
The starting point for a country to establish or improve its anti-money
laundering framework, according to her, is by making money laundering a
crime. She hinted that efforts being made to combat money laundering are
beginning to bear fruits given that it is now taking the centre-stage in
all regulatory authorities.
Dr Ngozi Egbuna concluded by saying
that combating of this menace
requires the crafting of appropriate laws,
as well as the creation of
national and international capacity and
coordination, stressing that
political commitment at all times to achieve
this is paramount.
Author: *by Hatab Fadera in Lagos,
Nigeria*
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