By Ndey Sowe
The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) has commenced a five-day training dubbed: “National Capacity Building workshop on Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) for competent authorities in The Gambia”.
The training, which started from the 23rd of June, 2025, at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre in Bijilo, is expected to end on Friday, 27 June.
The workshop is being organised by GIABA, in collaboration with national stakeholders, and forms part of Component 6 of the ECOWAS Counterterrorism Action Plan 2020-2024, which aims to strengthen Member States’ capacities in detecting, preventing, and combating the financing of terrorism.
The event provided an opportunity for competent authorities to build knowledge, share experiences, and develop mechanisms for combating terrorist financing in line with international standards.
Alagie Darboe, Director of the Gambia Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) emphasised the importance of the training: “We are honoured to host this important engagement, which has been made possible through the technical and financial support of the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA)—a valued partner in our national and regional fight against financial crime.”
DG Darboe thanks GIABA for its continued support to The Gambia and for recognising the urgency of strengthening national capacities to effectively respond to the evolving threats of terrorist financing. He added that the workshop reflects a shared vision of a secure and transparent financial system that is resistant to abuse by terrorists and other criminal elements.
“The active involvement of competent authorities—particularly law enforcement, intelligence, financial regulators, the judiciary, and national security agencies—is indispensable to this process. Their input ensures that our national risk profile is comprehensive, and that risk mitigation measures are aligned with both domestic realities and global obligations,” DG Darboe added.
Mr Ousman Sowe, Director General of the State Intelligence Services (SIS), formerly known as the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), said the training could not have come at a better time than now that the West Africa particularly the Sahel, which remains to be epicenter for militant Islamist violence in Africa; is witnessing and upsurge in terrorist attacks, with fatalities reaching alarming levels as jihadist groups expand their operations southward and westward.
Mr Muazu Umaru, Director of Policy and Research, GIABA, said the event is a vital demonstration of their collective will to confront the evolving and dangerous threats posed by terrorism and the illicit financial flows that sustain it. Mr Umaru outlined that there are only two ways to fight terrorism: the will of terrorists to fight, and the second is the means of the terrorists to fight, adding that the training is dedicated to taking away the means from terrorists.
“This workshop is being held at a most opportune time as The Gambia undertakes its Second National Risk Assessment (NRA) on Money Laundering (ML), Terrorist Financing (TF), and Proliferation Financing (PF). The NRA process, mandated under FATF Recommendation 1, is a foundational exercise that allows The Gambia to identify, assess, and understand our ML/TF/PF risks, and to take coordinated, risk-based measures to address them,” he stated.
