Government has disclosed that the sum of FCFA 160 billion injected illegally into the country by supporters of armed groups to fund terrorism in the troubled North West and South West regions via cryptocurrencies – a dematerialized, decentralized, and encrypted payment instruments with no physical payment, in 2018.
Biya regime still struggling to find solution to four year long armed conflict that has killed thousands, rendered hundreds of thousands as IDPs and refugees with entire villages destroyed
The revelation is contained in the first National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment report published by Cameroon through the World Bank’s technical support.
As published by www.businesscameroon.com, the amount is not exhaustive because of lack of reports on the number of actions and the volume of transactions, about crypto currency activities in Cameroon.
The report states based on intelligence reports that “armed Anglophone secessionist groups whose bank accounts were frozen following legal proceedings against them for terrorism financing now use the crypto currency ‘ambacoin’ to support their members” with possibility of other criminal groups like Boko Haram using such financing mechanisms.
The report indicates that the most popular cryptocurrency in Cameroon is Bitcoin with several local exchange bureaus dedicated to cryptocurrencies and user networks while companies and individuals are showing a growing interest in the virtual currency.
The report further stated that some commercial spaces do accept Bitcoin payments. The report states that crypto currencies offer a favorable environment for terrorists’ funding.
Crypto currencies it should be noted are not issued by monetary authorities or institutions and operate without a central controlling body.
Their values are encrypted and are essentially determined by a technology called "blockchain" (a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system).
By Doh Bertrand Nua
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