GIABA urges West African journalists to step up investigative reporting against financial crimes

The call was made as GIABA opened a three-day Regional Training Workshop on Investigative Reporting of Economic and Financial Crimes in Accra, bringing together media professionals from across the sub-region to strengthen their understanding of financial crime and improve the quality of reporting on money laundering, terrorist financing and related issues.

The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) has called on journalists across West Africa to intensify their watchdog role and deploy stronger investigative journalism to expose economic and financial crimes, illicit financial flows and other emerging threats undermining transparency, accountability and regional development.

Jallow pointed to the changing nature of threats confronting the West African region, including money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation financing, high-level corruption, illicit financial flows, drug trafficking, the misuse of virtual assets and weaknesses in regulatory oversight.