The anti-money laundering organization known as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has removed Senegal from its “enhanced watch list“, following a meeting held in Paris on Friday October 25. After visiting Senegal in August, the FATF removed the West African country from its “enhanced watch list” and announced that it had added Algeria, Angola, Ivory Coast and Lebanon to its “grey list“.
The President confirmed that “substantial steps have been taken to address the items on its action plan“, notably by strengthening its capacity to investigate and prosecute corruption-related money laundering cases. A plan of 29 actions broken down into 49 measures. The process of implementing this action plan resulted in the presentation of 9 follow-up reports and a summary report. Following these documentary reviews, from August 12 to 14 2024 in Dakar, Senegal was visited by experts from the International Cooperation Review Group of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
This action reinforces the country’s positive institutional image and strengthens, for the investment community, the attractiveness of the national economy by ensuring a more secure, stable and honest financial syste,
affirms the communication unit of Senegal’s Ministry of Finance and Budget published on October 25.It should be noted that on February 2, 2024, Senegal’s National Assembly adopted the new uniform law on the fight against money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The FATF “black list”
For the record, Senegal was placed on the FATF’s “enhanced surveillance” grey list in February 2021, as distinct from the “black list“, which currently includes Iran, North Korea and Burma. The FATF noted that the country did not fully comply with international standards in the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation. However, the decision revealed that Senegal was committed to working with the working group to remedy the shortcomings within the agreed timeframe, and to submit to additional controls.
According to the National Money Laundering Risk Assessment, one of the main factors in the country at the time was drug trafficking, an illegal economy that generated nearly $360 million (200 billion CFA francs) a year. Back in 2011, the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT) claimed that the ease of acquiring property in Senegal was being exploited by Europe-based drug traffickers to launder money. In 2013, it was estimated that around 96% of the $480 million invested in the real estate sector came from dubious origins.
