Guinea Launches Second National ML/TF/PF Risk Assessment with GIABA Support

The Republic of Guinea has commenced its second National Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Proliferation Financing (ML/TF/PF) Risk Assessment, marking a significant step in strengthening the country’s anti-financial crime framework and aligning its national strategy with evolving international standards.

The four-day workshop, running from August 4 to 7 in Conakry, is being organised by the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) in partnership with Guinea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (CENTIF). The assessment is being conducted using the World Bank’s National Risk Assessment methodology, an internationally recognised framework for identifying and evaluating financial crime risks.

Opening the workshop, CENTIF President Mamady Sanfina Diakité highlighted the importance of updating Guinea’s understanding of its exposure to money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing risks since the country’s first National Risk Assessment. He noted that the exercise will enhance inter-agency coordination, improve risk-based policymaking and strengthen the effectiveness of Guinea’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) regime.

Representing GIABA Director General Edwin W. Harris Jr., the organisation’s Director of Policy and Research, Dr. Jeffrey Isima, reaffirmed GIABA’s commitment to supporting ECOWAS member states in implementing robust National Risk Assessments that comply with the revised standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). He encouraged participating institutions to take ownership of the assessment process, stressing that the findings should guide future legislative reforms, supervisory priorities and operational responses to financial crime threats.

National Risk Assessments have become a cornerstone of the FATF’s risk-based approach to combating money laundering and terrorist financing. FATF Recommendation 1 requires jurisdictions to identify, assess and understand their money laundering and terrorist financing risks so that preventive measures and supervisory resources can be proportionately directed toward the highest-risk sectors. A comprehensive assessment also supports the development of targeted national AML/CFT strategies and improves the effectiveness of financial intelligence, law enforcement and regulatory oversight.

The workshop brings together representatives from government ministries, law enforcement agencies, financial sector regulators and other competent authorities responsible for Guinea’s AML/CFT framework. Participants are expected to review existing threat and vulnerability indicators, assess emerging risks and contribute data that will underpin the country’s updated National Risk Assessment.

For Guinea, the exercise is expected to strengthen institutional resilience against illicit financial flows while enhancing compliance with international AML/CFT standards ahead of future mutual evaluation and follow-up processes within the GIABA and FATF frameworks. The assessment also reflects a broader regional effort by GIABA to assist West African countries in developing evidence-based, risk-driven financial crime policies capable of responding to increasingly sophisticated money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing threats.

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