Botswana launches second national risk assessment on money laundering

GABORONE, Nov. 8 — Botswana has launched its second National Risk Assessment (NRA) on money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation financing.
At the launch in Gaborone on Monday, Emmah Peloetletse, Permanent Secretary to the President and chairperson of the National Coordinating Committee on Financial Intelligence, stated that she believes the report will be completed on time and within budget.
“This project needs the commitment and support of all the stakeholders, and although the assessment modules have increased from nine to fifteen this time around, with the improved tools we are determined more than ever, to get done within a year, as opposed to the two years we took to complete the first NRA,” she said.
She also stated that if the NRA is properly implemented, it will assist the southern African country in meeting international standards and avoiding being “grey-listed.”
Botswana completed its first national risk assessment in 2017 and is now working on the second, which is expected to be completed by August 2023. In October 2018, Botswana was grey-listed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for shortcomings in its financial regulation. Botswana was removed from the FATF’s grey list after improvements to money laundering regulations were made in October 2021.
The FAFT is an intergovernmental organization tasked with developing standards to prevent and combat money laundering and terrorist financing. According to FATF rules, member countries must identify, assess, and comprehend the risks of money laundering and terrorism financing that they face.  (Xinhua)