Licence: (c) ECOWAS Commission – press release; news reuse with credit. Adapted for this publication; see the original for the source text.
GIABA, West Africa’s anti-money laundering group, opened a three-day investigative journalism training workshop on economic and financial crimes in Accra, Ghana, from 22 to 24 September 2026.
The workshop brings together investigative journalists and media professionals from across the West African sub-region for sessions on reporting skills, modern investigative techniques and cross-border media networking around financial crimes, corruption and illicit financial flows.
Speaking on behalf of GIABA Director General Mam Cherno Jallow, the organisation’s head of Communication and Advocacy, Timothy Melaye, used the keynote address to set out the regional threats the training addresses.
He listed money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation financing, the misuse of virtual assets, drug trafficking, extractive sector corruption and regulatory vulnerabilities in designated non-financial businesses and professions.
Melaye described the media as a strategic partner in that work. “The fight against money laundering and terrorist financing cannot be fully effective without the active involvement of the media, particularly investigative journalists, who are our strategic allies,” he said.
“Through your investigations, you help uncover illegal practices, alert the public, shape public opinion, challenge decision-makers and strengthen governance. This fight will only be won if light prevails over darkness and you, journalists, are one of our most powerful beacons.”
Benjamin Ofori, director of Legal at the Ghana Financial Intelligence Centre, delivered the welcome address on behalf of the centre’s director, Albert Kwadwo Twum Boafo. Ofori framed the training around the practical demands of the beat.
“The modern financial crime reporter must be able to follow the money,” he said. “This requires an understanding of corporate structures, examining financial records, identifying beneficial owners, and connecting seemingly unrelated transactions.
Our goal should not simply be to produce more stories about financial crime; it should be to produce well-informed, evidence-based, and impactful journalism that explains how financial crime operates and how it affects our communities.”
Ofori also said that fighting financial crime requires collective institutional collaboration.
The programme covers financial investigation and open-source intelligence techniques, analysis of procurement information, corporate registries and beneficial ownership structures, and due diligence and accuracy standards aimed at curbing misinformation and poor reporting on anti-money laundering, financing of terrorism and countering proliferation financing matters.
A further strand covers cross-border networking and alliances among West African media practitioners.
GIABA’s membership spans the Economic Community of West African States.
The organisation’s stated focus is on strengthening anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regimes across the region, and it has previously run training and capacity-building programmes for member-state institutions and non-state actors.
The workshop, according to GIABA, reaffirms the organisation’s and its member states’ ongoing commitment to fostering an open, transparent and resilient West African socio-economic landscape.
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