In 2018, Malawi was assessed by the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF), through the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG). The Assessment Report showed Malawi as Partially-Compliant to some of the recommendations. The Report also uncovered the urgent need for increased awareness on terrorist financing (TF) and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction among anti-money laundering /combating financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) supervisors and key stakeholders, especially on proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which had been excluded in prior capacity building engagements.
Against this backdrop, the AGA-Africa Programme collaborated with the Financial Intelligence Authority, Malawi, on an engaging ‘Combating Financing of Terrorism (CFT) and Combating Proliferations Financing (CPF)’ workshop held on 24th-27th July, 2023, in Lilongwe, Malawi.
The workshop brought together officers from the National Counter Terrorist Panel (NCTP), Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA), Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM), Malawi Gaming Board (MGB), Non-Governmental Organisation Board (NGO), Fiscal and Fraud Unit (FFU), Wildlife and Environmental Crime Unit of the Malawi Police Services (MPS), the National Intelligence Services (NIS), the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) and Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) as well as national, regional and international subject matter experts from Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and the United States.
The workshop provided a platform for the participants to gain an understanding of terrorism financing and proliferation financing among policy makers, as well enhancing their knowledge and skills on the global best practices in the identification and the handling of terrorist financing cases.
Maureen Malabu, Manager, Compliance and Prevention, Financial Intelligence Authority gave opening remarks as Gift Caroline Chikwakwa, AGA-Africa Programme Country Coordinator for Malawi spoke on behalf of Markus Green, Board Member, AGA-Africa Programme.
Dokani Ngwira, Director General, National Intelligence Services, Malawi, delivered the keynote address.
The workshop sessions were moderated by Maureen Malabu, Manager, Compliance and Prevention, Financial Intelligence Authority, Grace Thipa, Senior Public Relations Officer, Financial Intelligence Authority and Peter Msokera, Senior Financial Investigator, Financial Intelligence Authority.
The highly interactive sessions were facilitated by Christine Jones Brady, Assistant Attorney General, State of Nevada, Edwin Mtonga, Head of Legal Corporate Services, Financial Intelligence Authority, Alma Wanyama, Senior Technical Advisor, Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Platform in East, South, Central Africa and Yemen (AML-CFT ESCAY), Chikodi Sikwese, Manager, Financial Crime Investigations, Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA), Muluken Dubale, Senior Legal Financial Intelligence Unit, Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group, Zara Liabunya, Compliance and Premium Manager, Financial Intelligence Authority, David Ssengendo, Deputy Director, Counter Terrorism, Uganda Police Force and Masautso Ebere, Compliance and Premium Manager, Financial Intelligence Authority.
Dr. Jean Phillipo-Priminta, Director General, Financial Intelligence Authority, gave the closing remarks as Gift Caroline Chikwakwa, AGA-Africa Programme, Country Coordinator for Malawi, gave the vote of thanks appreciating the participants for their attendance and participation.
Workshop Outcome
Through this workshop the participants:
- Improved their knowledge on the tools used to conduct a national risk assessment in relation to terrorism financing (TF) and proliferations financing (PF) in Malawi.
- Enhanced their understanding of indicators and red flags of terrorism financing and proliferations financing of weapons and mass destruction as well as the Malawi legal framework and policy gaps.
- Were equipped with essential skills required to identify TF & PF risks, threats, vulnerabilities and consequences in Malawi.
