The European Commission has announced its decision to erase Ghana from its list of countries well-known for money laundering and terrorism financing.

According to a press statement released by the Presidency, the decision is said to have been arrived at during President Akufo-Addo’s two-day working visit to Brussels, Belgium.

“The European Union acknowledged the efforts Ghana has made in implementing the action plan of the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) in record time. The Commission, thus, congratulated Ghana for the reforms embarked on, as well as the sustainable, robust systems deployed towards being taken off the list” the release added.

”It is expected that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, will in June 2021, announce that Ghana has been taken off its list of high-risk third-world countries with strategic deficiencies in Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Terrorism Financing”.

On 7 May 2020, the European Union (EU) announced that it has added Ghana to its list of countries blacklisted for money laundering. Indicating that the measure is not yet in force, this decision follows a similar one on 19 February 2019 to blacklist Ghana.

Ghana joined three other African countries including Botswana, Mauritius and Zimbabwe. They were all been subjected to financial transaction scrutiny.
A report by the Commission said the findings were part of a comprehensive approach to further strengthen the EU’s fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

Other countries that were listed include Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Cambodia, Mongolia and Myanmar.

The listed countries were identified after a systematic assessment of their integrity of the EU financial system by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).