FATF Status

Guinea Bissau is not on the FATF List of Countries that have been identified as having strategic AML deficiencies

Compliance with FATF Recommendations

The last Mutual Evaluation Report relating to the implementation of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards in Guinea Bissau was undertaken in 2022. According to that Evaluation, Guinea Bissau was deemed Compliant for 5 and Largely Compliant for 11 of the FATF 40 Recommendations. ​It was rated Highly effective for 0 and Substantially Effective for 0 of the Effectiveness & Technical Compliance ratings.

US Department of State Money Laundering assessment (INCSR)

Guinea-Bissau was last deemed a Jurisdiction of Primary Concern in the US Department of State 2018 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR). The Overview from that report was as follows: -

Chronic political instability and government dysfunction have meant the Bissau-Guinean authorities have made little headway in fighting narcotics trafficking, money laundering, or other crimes. However, in 2016, the resumption of direct budget support by multilateral institutions has led to greater consistency in payment of salaries for the law enforcement and judicial systems. 

The Bijagos Archipelago and the extensive riverine geography of the coastline continue to make the country a transshipment center for drugs. Although the government has taken steps to exert more oversight of military spending, civilian control is still lacking. Narcotics traffickers continue to take advantage of Guinea-Bissau’s remoteness, poverty, unemployment, political malaise, and lack of effective customs and law enforcement to route drugs through the country to European markets. Drug traffickers have been able to infiltrate state structures and often operate with impunity. 

Underscoring the extent of complicity with drug trafficking at the highest levels of the government and armed forces, former Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto was arrested by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2013; on his release from prison and return to Guinea-Bissau in November 2016, then-Prime Minister Baciro Dja welcomed Na Tchuto as a “hero of the revolution.” Both Na Tchuto and Guinea-Bissau’s Air Force Chief of Staff Ibraima Papa Camara were designated as drug kingpins by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2010 for their roles in narcotics trafficking. Camara remains in his position as Air Force Chief of Staff, despite this designation.

Rating                                                                           (100-Good / 0-Bad)

Transparency International Corruption Index                           22

World Governance Indicator – Control of Corruption              12

Guinea-Bissau is highly dependent on subsistence agriculture, cashew nut exports, and foreign assistance. Two out of three Bissau-Guineans remain below the absolute poverty line. The legal economy is based on farming and fishing, but illegal logging and trafficking in narcotics are also important economic activities. The combination of limited economic prospects, weak institutions, and favourable geography have made this West African country a way station for drugs bound for Europe while trade in illegal logging, food, and fishing is also significant.

Guinea-Bissau has substantial potential for development of mineral resources including phosphates, bauxite, and mineral sands. The country’s climate and soil make it feasible to grow a wide range of cash crops, fruit, vegetables, and tubers; however, cashews generate more than 80% of export receipts and are the main source of income for many rural communities.

With renewed donor support following elections in April-May 2014 and a successful regional bond issuance, the government of Guinea-Bissau made progress paying salaries, settling domestic arrears, and gaining more control over revenues and expenditures, but was deposed by the President in August 2015. A political stalemate since then has resulted in weak governance.

Agriculture - products:
rice, corn, beans, cassava (manioc, tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish

Industries:
agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks

Exports - commodities:
fish, shrimp; cashews, peanuts, palm kernels, raw and sawn lumber

Exports - partners:
India 63.5%, Nigeria 20.3%, China 5.7%, Togo 5.6% (2015)

Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products

Imports - partners:
Portugal 27.1%, Senegal 12.8%, China 6.5%, Spain 5.5%, Cuba 4.8% (2015)

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Country Links

Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO)