International Journal on Criminology Volume 6, Number 2, Winter 2018/Spring 2019 | Page 56

The Fight against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in West Africa
27. Donations: It has also been shown that terrorist activities are financed through
donations from local sympathizers or members of terrorist groups, as well as from
foreign sympathizers through NGOs and perhaps through capital or securities
transfer services.
28. Abuse of non-profit organizations (NPOs): Several cases have shown that
NPOs are used by sympathizers to provide terrorist groups with financial resources.
This is explained by the good will NPOs enjoy in West Africa because of the
social role they play in helping the poor. The way that these organizations operate
can be opaque, and it has proven difficult to regulate them throughout West Africa.
Their regulation and monitoring is neither effective nor efficient.
29. Use of local/commercial companies: Sources of funding for Ansaru and Boko
Haram include investment in transport companies, and sales of dried fish and kola
nuts, all of which are profitable activities in Nigeria.
30. Abductions for ransoms: An Egyptian press office has claimed that "A total of
€183 million in ransoms has been paid for the release of eighty Western tourists
in the Sahel-Sahara region in recent years, making hostage-taking one of the main
sources of funding for groups in Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Niger."
No evidence exists to back up these allegations, but it is estimated that the high
circulation of currencies (euros and US dollars) in West Africa is a result of these
ransom payments.
31. In addition, typologies reports suspect that terrorist groups use other sources of
financing, including drug trafficking, arms trafficking, goods smuggling, migrant
smuggling, people trafficking, piracy, fraud connected with new means of payment,
and cybercrime. This is certainly plausible, given the opportunism terrorist groups
have shown in adapting to the economic and social situation in West Africa.
Conclusion
32. West Africa offers a multitude of opportunities for financial criminals and terrorist
groups. This explains the extent of the problem of money laundering and
terrorist financing in the region. However, there are very few convictions for these
two types of crime. Terrorist activity previously concentrated in Mali and Nigeria
is spreading to neighboring countries, leading to increasing and more sophisticated
attacks, the destabilization of governments, loss of control of certain geographical
areas, loss of public confidence in the state, widespread corruption, arms
trafficking, population displacement, and more.
33. The most effective response is for authorities to develop shared, coordinated
approaches to combating money laundering and terrorist financing in the region.
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