Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Terrorism poses a serious threat to global peace, security, and economic development. In the aftermath of the September 2001 attacks in the United States, cutting off terrorist organizations' sources of funding was one of the measures adopted by the international community to combat this phenomenon. Various regulatory frameworks against money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) have been established, accompanied by stricter controls on financial operations and transactions. This raises questions about the effectiveness of these measures in West African countries, where entire segments of economic activity take place in the informal sector outside any regulatory framework. This book therefore seeks to identify the vulnerabilities and real threats that the informal sector may pose in relation to ML/TF in West African countries. It appears that, with a contribution to the region's GDP of approximately 43%, the informal sector exhibits characteristics that make these countries vulnerable to ML/TF; however, these vulnerabilities stem more from factors or actors external to the sector itself.