On 11-14 November 2025, the IIJ held its Training of Trainers (ToT) for West African Practitioners on Mitigating Terrorist Financing Risks, generously supported by the Government of Germany. The training aimed at building capacities of investigators, prosecutors, judges, and financial analysts in countering the financing of terrorism (CFT), as well as promoting interagency cooperation and building a network of IIJ CFT trainers.
The first IIJ ToT of a similar format took place in October 2024 in Malta and had good results, but could not accommodate everyone interested in the programme. Due to high interest, the IIJ invited a second cohort of 30 practitioners from Benin, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo, to participate in this blended programme that included modules on both CFT substance and teaching methodologies, thus enabling the participants to develop and implement their own capacity-building programmes in response to country-specific terrorist financing risks.
The training was supported by key partners, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), and the Centre de Formation Judiciaire (CFJ) Senegal, with which the IIJ has a Memorandum of Understanding.
The ToT alumni have expressed commitment to organise their own training courses, and many of them will be invited by the IIJ, UNODC and other institutions to participate in CFT programmes in trainers’ capacity, multiplying the impact of the IIJ’s work across the region.
Opening remarks were delivered by IIJ’s Executive Secretary Steven Hill, First Secretary, Political Section Jonas Tylewski, GIABA’s Director for Policy & Research Muazu Umaru. Speakers confirmed commitment to joining efforts in countering the financing of terrorism and channelling core values of security and cooperation in West Africa.