Monrovia – The government of Liberia is turning to digital data collection and stronger inter agency coordination as it begins preparations for the country’s second National Risk Assessment on money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.
The nationwide exercise, scheduled for September through November 2026, is expected to use Kobo Collect technology to gather and organize information from key sectors involved in Liberia’s Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism system.
The move signals a shift toward a more coordinated and technology supported approach to understanding financial crime risks, with the government seeking to ensure that its second National Risk Assessment produces information that can be translated into concrete policy and institutional action.
Liberia’s first National Risk Assessment was conducted in 2019. Since then, the financial environment has continued to change, including the emergence of new technologies and increasingly sophisticated methods used by criminals to facilitate or conceal illicit financial activities.
The second assessment is therefore expected to examine the country’s current vulnerabilities and determine whether existing institutions and controls remain adequate to address emerging threats.
The process is being coordinated under the policy direction of the Inter Ministerial Steering Committee, which has designated Financial Intelligence Agency Officer In Charge Mohammed Ali Nasser as Chairperson of the National Steering Committee responsible for the NRA 2 process.
The National Steering Committee will coordinate the work of specialized groups across Liberia and is expected to consolidate the evidence gathered during the exercise into findings that can guide national policy and institutional decision making.
The committee will also be responsible for presenting evidence based reports to the Inter Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa through Liberia’s Inter Ministerial Steering Committee.
A major feature of the second assessment is the use of technology to improve the collection and management of information.
Enumerators have already been trained to use Kobo Collect, a digital platform capable of operating both online and offline. The system is expected to help standardize questionnaires, facilitate real time data collection where connectivity is available and improve consistency in information gathered from different institutions and sectors.
The technology is particularly relevant to a nationwide exercise where information must be collected from multiple institutions operating in different locations and with varying levels of technological access.
The move toward digital data gathering also reflects the broader objective of making the National Risk Assessment more practical and responsive to Liberia’s current financial environment.
The exercise follows a five day pre risk assessment workshop held in Monrovia from March 23 to 27, 2026, by the Inter Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa in collaboration with the Financial Intelligence Agency.
The workshop brought together stakeholders from Liberia’s public and private sectors to identify, assess and understand risks within the country’s AML/CFT system.
Among the institutions represented were the Central Bank of Liberia, Financial Intelligence Agency, Ministry of Justice, Liberia National Police, Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, National Lottery Authority, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Liberia Revenue Authority and Liberia Bank for Development and Investment.
Those institutions subsequently formed ten specialized working groups to support the second National Risk Assessment.
The working groups are now preparing to move into the nationwide data collection phase.
The exercise is built around three central pillars identified as national ownership, sustainable capacity and actionable results.
The emphasis on actionable results is particularly important because Liberia is seeking to avoid producing an assessment that remains largely as a document without translating its findings into institutional reforms.
The objective is for the final assessment to become a living document that can serve as a strategic compass for policymakers and institutions responsible for preventing, detecting and responding to financial crime.
The findings could help institutions identify areas where their systems require strengthening, determine where additional capacity is needed and develop more targeted measures based on the risks identified through the assessment.
The exercise is also linked to Financial Action Task Force Recommendation 1, which requires jurisdictions to identify, assess and understand their money laundering and terrorist financing risks.
For Liberia, the second assessment provides an opportunity to update the country’s understanding of its vulnerabilities more than seven years after the first assessment.
It also provides an opportunity to examine how technological changes and new financial practices may have altered the nature of risks facing the country.
As financial crime becomes increasingly sophisticated, the effectiveness of Liberia’s response will depend on the quality of information available to institutions responsible for preventing and investigating illicit financial activity.
The NRA 2 process is therefore expected to place considerable emphasis on reliable data, institutional participation and coordination.
The nationwide exercise will run through November, after which the information gathered by the specialized working groups is expected to contribute to the development of Liberia’s second National Risk Assessment report.
The success of the exercise will depend on the willingness of participating institutions and stakeholders to provide accurate information and on the ability of the National Steering Committee to transform that information into practical findings.
If effectively implemented, the second assessment could provide Liberia with a clearer picture of where its financial crime vulnerabilities lie and give institutions a stronger basis for allocating resources, strengthening controls and developing policies that respond to actual risks rather than assumptions.
