BUJUMBURA January 15th (ABP) – The permanent secretary of the National Financial Intelligence Unit (CNRF), Mr. Innocent Bano, indicated, Thursday January 11, 2024, during the opening of a national assessment workshop of risks, that Burundi has put in place a legal and institutional mechanism to deal with money laundering and terrorist financing which threatens the stability of the financial system.
Mr. Bano said that the CNRF is legally recognized by the 2008 law. It is responsible for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Its mission is to ensure the stability, solidity and integrity of Burundi’s financial system.
He also specified that Burundi was recently associated with the financial action group (FATF), by a high-level mission from an organization ESAAMLG, which is effectively responsible at the international level for combating money laundering and financing. That organization visited Burundi in March to check the progress of that fight. It is within that framework that it produced reports through which recommendations were issued, in particular that of mapping the risks with regard to money laundering and the financing of terrorism, hence the holding of the workshop, in order to implement that recommendation.
The added value of that workshop, noted Mr. Bano, is to discuss the financial disorder which characterized Burundi a few years ago, with a view to experiencing change through the establishment of standards, but also through the creation of a stable economic environment. That will put the country in a comfortable position internationally and security for investors.
The permanent secretary of the said institution further stressed that we cannot achieve the 2040 and 2060 visions with the practices of the past. The Burundian population must take the train of a stable, reassuring environment and integrity of the financial system. It is within that framework that Burundi has put in place a legal and institutional mechanism to deal with that scourge which threatens the stability of the financial system, but also which threatens the peace, security and development of the country.
The media are also invited to support not only the government of Burundi in that policy of combating economic embezzlement but also the CNRF, so that it is effective, independent and autonomous.