The United Nations has urged governments across Africa to strengthen efforts to combat illicit financial flows estimated at $88 billion annually while avoiding anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations that could unnecessarily restrict civil society organisations.
Ben Saul, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights while Countering Terrorism, gave the warning at the 3rd Africa High-Level Civil Society Conference on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) in Abuja.
The conference, organised by Spaces for Change (S4C), the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) of the EFCC, and Civic Advisory Hub (CAH), brought together delegates from more than 30 countries under the theme “Implementing FATF Recommendation 8 Correctly: Practices, Lessons Learned and Opportunities for Reform.”
Saul said the 2023 revision of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 8 clarified that only non-profit organisations identified as vulnerable to terrorist financing risks should be subject to targeted measures.
“Most non-profit organisations do not pose any risk of terrorist financing at all,” he said.
