Business
GIABA Links Cash Use to Money Laundering in West Africa
GIABA money laundering risks rise from excessive cash use; agency urges electronic payments to fight transnational crimes in West Africa
The Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) has identified the excessive use of cash as a major driver of money laundering and other financial crimes across Nigeria and the wider West African region.
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GIABA is a specialised agency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Speaking at the Joint GIABA–ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC) Regional Forum on Women and Transnational Organised Crimes in Lagos, Dr. Jeffery Isima, Acting Director of Policy and Research at GIABA, said reliance on cash hampers efforts to track illicit financial flows.
“What we are doing to deal with it is to help the Nigerian government enhance financial inclusion and cashless financing,” Isima said.
“We are helping to ensure that people can carry out large transactions through electronic payments.”
He explained that many individuals involved in financial crimes avoid banks because electronic transactions are traceable, making cash transactions more attractive for laundering illicit funds.
Isima highlighted the broader context of transnational organised crime in West Africa, noting that human trafficking is pervasive, evolving, and deeply harmful.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) data shows children account for over 75 per cent of trafficking victims in the sub-region.
Ms. Hafsat Abubakar Bakari, Director/CEO of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), described human trafficking as one of the most lucrative forms of transnational organised crime worldwide, generating over $150 billion annually.
Women and girls represent more than 60 per cent of victims, with sexual exploitation and domestic servitude particularly prevalent in West Africa.
Bakari emphasised that trafficking creates a financial trail, including payments for recruitment, transportation, forged documentation, accommodation, and exploitation.
These proceeds are laundered through banks, mobile money platforms, informal value transfer systems, shell companies, and increasingly, digital and cryptocurrency channels.
“Trafficking cannot be effectively tackled without integrating anti–money laundering and counter-financing tools into national and regional responses,” Bakari said.
She added that structural vulnerabilities such as poverty, unemployment, displacement, porous borders, and entrenched gender inequalities provide fertile ground for traffickers, who increasingly exploit social media and community networks to recruit victims.
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Both speakers stressed the importance of risk-based supervision, intelligence-led interventions, and a shift towards electronic payments to combat the financial mechanisms underpinning transnational organised crimes.
The Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Trade, Mines and Agriculture (NDCCITMA) has dismissed allegations that it appropriated the Niger Delta Economic & Investment Summit (NDEIS) brand, insisting it lawfully obtained trademark acceptance for the name and will proceed with its 2026 summit as scheduled.
In a statement issued on September 12, 2026, the chamber described claims by Kunle Nwiwa Junior as “cheap blackmail, misleading, mischievous and a misrepresentation of the facts,” maintaining that it independently developed the summit and followed all required regulatory procedures.
According to NDCCITMA, it applied for and received a Trademark Acceptance Letter for the name Niger Delta Economic & Investment Summit (NDEIS) in August 2025 under File No. NG/TM/O/2025/387284.
The chamber said the chronology of events contradicts allegations that it copied another party’s application, arguing that its trademark acceptance predated the period during which Nwiwa’s own application was reportedly still pending before the relevant authorities.
“Economic Summit” is a generic expression
NDCCITMA further argued that the phrase “Economic Summit” is a generic description widely used for conferences that bring together governments, investors, businesses, development institutions and other stakeholders to discuss investment and economic development.
The chamber maintained that while concepts may be widely used, legal protection only arises from recognised intellectual property rights, including duly registered trademarks and other enforceable proprietary interests.
It therefore rejected suggestions that any individual or organisation has exclusive ownership of the broader concept of an economic summit.
Court grants interim injunction
Addressing reports that the summit had been halted, NDCCITMA said the dispute is already before the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt and that there is no court order restraining the event.
The chamber disclosed that in Suit No. FHC/PHC/CS/57/2026, Justice Stephen Dalyop Pam granted an interim injunction restraining the defendants—Kunle Nwiwa Junior and Keneva Consult Ltd.—from interfering with the planned summit.
According to NDCCITMA, the court also directed the defendants to remove publications, notices, petitions, social media posts and other statements allegedly considered damaging to the chamber’s name, integrity and reputation pending the hearing of its motion for interlocutory injunction.
The matter has been adjourned until September 22, 2026 for further hearing.
Chamber rejects ₦500 million demand claim
NDCCITMA also alleged that it had received a demand from Nwiwa Junior requesting ₦500 million as a condition for abandoning his claims over the summit.
The chamber said the demand was rejected, adding that it subsequently petitioned the Inspector-General of Police over what it described as repeated harassment and threats directed at its officials.
It said the petition sought police intervention, including inviting the complainant for questioning and caution where necessary.
Summit opens September 15
Despite the legal dispute, NDCCITMA reaffirmed that the 2026 Niger Delta Economic & Investment Summit will hold from September 15 to 17, 2026, at the Obi Wali Conference Centre in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The summit will be held under the theme “Driving Investment, Innovation & Industrial Growth in the Niger Delta” and is expected to bring together policymakers, investors, business leaders, development partners and industry stakeholders to discuss economic transformation across the region.
The chamber said it remains committed to promoting commerce, industry, trade, mining, agriculture and sustainable economic development throughout the Niger Delta while allowing the courts to determine all outstanding legal issues.
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