NEW PARTNERSHIP TO CONNECT THE MIDDLE EAST AND EUROPE VIA IRAQ
Zain Omantel International (ZOI) has announced a partnership with Iraq’s Horizon Scope Telecom and the Iraqi Telecommunications and Information Company (ITPC), a government-owned company under the Iraqi Ministry of Telecommunications.
This partnership enables ZOI to create a digital telecommunications corridor stretching from the Middle East to Europe through Iraq, offering alternative terrestrial connectivity options that provide higher levels of capacity, security and efficiency.
According to a statement from ZOI, the route will use terrestrial fibre connectivity that utilises Iraq’s position as a digital gateway, creating more reliable services that are less susceptible to interruptions. It will pass through Turkey and make its way up to Frankfurt, Germany. The new corridor will act as an alternative to traditional subsea routes by bypassing some of the turbulent areas. The route will enable international businesses, telecom operators and hyperscalers to expand their reach via robust, low-latency infrastructure, ensuring seamless connectivity between the Middle East and Europe.
Mr. Sohail Qadir, CEO at ZOI, said:
“By working together, we will enhance regional and international connectivity, offering higher capacity, security, and efficiency for businesses, operators and hyperscalers across continents.”
Mr. Ahmed Abdulsalam, the Managing Director of Horizon Scope, said:
“Offering alternative terrestrial connectivity routes is a critical way to protect against infrastructure vulnerabilities, ensuring that enterprises can capture more opportunities and scale with reliable connectivity.”
Mr. Ali Y. Dawood, the Director General of ITPC, said:
“This partnership marks a significant milestone in strengthening Iraq’s position as a connectivity corridor, especially by providing an alternative path to Europe. We are committed to delivering connectivity solutions that the people of Iraq can trust and use to enable seamless global connectivity.”
PLEASE READ THIS—-> Now let’s talk about the new stage that Iraq has entered, which incidentally, efforts were put on warp speed to complete the AML reforms as acceleration began in early January 2023. You have all seen it in the hundreds of articles I presented over these past couple years.
If you can remember I keep harping on the issue of a suppressed Iraqi dinar from the real nominal rate using still the sanctioned de facto peg to the dollar. We know about what the TRUE rate of the dinar should currently be based on its assets.
The IMF is going to a strict asset-based evaluation of currency values. This is a Basel requirement. So, what has been preventing this revaluation to the TRUE rate of the dinar? By reading this Newsletter today so far you have a pretty good idea that it was mostly the AML issue.
I am not saying that other issues are also not important but when you look at them and study them overall, they too always come back to being a part of the AML efforts, i.e. banking reforms.
If you have been reading enough of these articles over the past two decades (like I have), we now get a sense of a real change. Call it a transition, yes, a transition taking slower than we want, but a sound transition away from those sanctioned days of Iraq since 1990’s.
It is a new Iraq and it is here now not years from now. So, it puzzles me as to why the currency also does not NOW reflect this change. But I assure you it will, and it won’t be long until it does. We all need to just relax and hang-in to the end…. The AML efforts is sprouting great benefits to Iraq and allowing them to move ahead quickly now.
😊Looking at recent article titles “CBI CONFIRMS COMMITMENT TO COMBATING MONEY LAUNDERING IRAQ” from May 28, 2025, we read about an AML conference that took place in Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), Ali Al-Alaq, reaffirmed on Wednesday the country’s commitment to countering money laundering and terrorist funding in collaboration with international partners.
During his participation in a conference:
Al-Alaq stated that Iraq is working with foreign partners to ensure compliance with international treaties on combating money laundering.
According to Al-Alaq.Iraq has unique qualities in terms of financial data transparency and access required by authorities for monitoring currency flows outside the country,
Al-Alaq explained that Iraq is cooperating on a global scale to exchange information through broad communication networks.
Al-Alaq also stated that Iraq had some shortcomings that needed to be addressed, which the CBI did well by implementing suitable measures to decrease the dangers of money laundering and assure effective counter-terrorism financing.
AN ECONOMIST ANSWERS THE FEASIBILITY QUESTION: HAS ELECTRONIC PAYMENT IN IRAQ ACHIEVED THE DESIRED RESULTS?
“Still not up to par?”
Economist Munar Al-Abidi raised a question about the feasibility of electronic payment in Iraq and whether it has achieved the desired results after its use in many government institutions.
Al-Obaidi said in a clarification received by Al-Jabal, “Has electronic payment achieved the desired results after two years of moving towards its widespread use in most state facilities and institutions?” He explained that “the importance of electronic payment in any country is not measured by its ability to reduce the volume of cash circulating outside the banking system, as real cash exists to fulfill its role in circulation, not to be physically stored within financial institutions.”
He added, “The true measure of success for electronic payment strategies is the extent of development of the trust structure in the banking system, which is accurately measured by the ratio of the broad money supply (M2) to the narrow money supply (M0).”
Al-Abidi pointed out that, “To clarify what these percentages are in a simplified manner:
Suppose a person has 100,000 dinars in cash:
If the entire amount is kept in cash, M0 = 100,000.
But if he deposits 30,000 on his electronic card and withdraws 70,000 in cash, then:
M0 = 70,000
M1 = 30,000
He pointed out that “if he transferred 15,000 dinars from his bank account linked to his electronic card to a fixed deposit at the bank, the indicators would be:
M0 = 70,000
M1 = 15,000
M2 = 15,000″.
He pointed out that “the more people trust the banking system and electronic financial transactions, the more their electronic balances (M1) increase, and the more their confidence in the feasibility of banking investment increases, the higher the value of their long-term deposits and consequently the increase in (M2). It is not important the amount of money supply, whether inside or outside financial institutions, as much as their ability to move it effectively more than once and the ability to raise the value of M2 at the expense of M0.”
Therefore – and this is what Al-Ubaidi says – the effect of these meanings is as follows:
A higher M1/M0 ratio indicates greater confidence in daily dealings with the banking system.
A rising M2/M0 ratio indicates increased individual confidence in investing within the banking sector.
Al-Obaidi continued, saying, “Iraq’s data over the past two years, between March 2023 and March 2025, showed that the M2/M0 ratio rose from 1.11 to 1.25, an increase of 12.4%, reflecting an improvement in reliance on banking services and electronic payments. However, despite this improvement, the ratio remains low compared to other countries such as Saudi Arabia, where the ratio reached 6.4 during the same period.”
According to Al-Abidi, “An important question may arise: How can M2 be so much larger than M0?” He answered, “This can be done through the cumulative role of the banking system: If the person mentioned in the example deposits 15,000 dinars into his card account, and the bank re-lends 10,000 of them to another person who in turn re-deposits them, the total money circulating within the system becomes larger than the original monetary base, and thus the ratio of M2 to M0 rises. Therefore, when this ratio in Saudi Arabia is 6.4, this means that banking operations conducted on the same monetary mass are circulating quickly, which indicates the efficiency of the banking sector and its ability to gain the confidence of customers in the banking sector.”
He considered that “despite the positive growth in electronic payment indicators in Iraq, there is still a long way to go to reach global levels. However, the general trend indicates an encouraging gradual improvement in individual confidence in the banking system, albeit at a slow pace.” He explained: “Also, the M2/M0 ratio in March 2025 decreased slightly compared to February 2025 due to the decline in the value of deposits in the sector, which is an indicator that requires close monitoring and work to correct the ratio to be in a positive direction.”
He continued: “Measuring the success of electronic transactions must be subject to clearly adopted objectives, one of which is to bring the M2/M0 ratio to the 3-point mark by gradually reducing the money supply and withdrawing it from circulation, and increasing the number of deposits and banking transactions by pressuring private and public institutions to adopt banking transaction mechanisms, most importantly electronic payments, and providing appropriate incentives to customers to encourage them to continue using them.”
Members of Iraq’s counter-terrorism force take part in an intensive security deployment in Baghdad’s Al-Adel district October 28, 2014. The elite counter-terrorism unit was deployed to the streets of the capital Baghdad on Tuesday to chase sleeper cells, while heavily armed and masked members patrolled the streets of Baghdad’s Sunni neighborhood of Al-Adel to carry out vehicle checks and search for people who are wanted. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
IRAQ IS STEPPING UP EFFORTS TO CURB MONEY LAUNDERING AND TERRORISM FINANCING.
Majda Mohsen, ZAWYA
July 21, 2015
Iraq is stepping up efforts to curb money laundering and terrorism financing.
Iraq’s parliament is expected to soon endorse a new law that aims to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, the government’s economic adviser said.
Mazhar Mohammad Saleh told TR Zawya that the draft law, which was approved by the cabinet in June, would be more inclusive than a 2004 law that was drawn up by the Coalition Provisional Authority. He said the new law would cover tax evasion, smuggling of antiquities and cash as well as corruption.
“The new law will draw additional policies, legislations and procedures to chase and trace money and smugglers through a national council,” Saleh said.
“It will also meet Iraq’s financial interest and open the way for the country to conduct economic activities at the international level,” he added. “Between 3-5% of Iraqi GDP has been lost due to smuggling during the past 10 years as a result of money laundering.”
(Mnt Goat – this last statement highlighted is exactly where I am going with getting into the details of the AML today. One thing leads to another. They needed sound AML laws in order to move ahead internationally.)
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said in June that Iraq has not made sufficient progress to stem money laundering and terrorism financing. It said Baghdad needed to adequately criminalise such acts, establish a legal framework for identifying, tracing and freezing terrorist assets, establish effective customer due diligence measures and a financial intelligence unit,
introduce suspicious transaction reporting requirements and put in place a supervisory and oversight program for all financial sectors.
(Mnt Goat – yes, this is why we didn’t see and could not have seen the RV back then. Get it now?)
“Punishments imposed under the old law were ridiculous, with those convicted of money laundering facing no more than four years in jail,” said legal expert Tariq Harb.
The draft law is being introduced at a time when global efforts are being exerted to cut off the funding of militant group Islamic State, which has taken control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria, and whose main sources of revenue include bank looting and extortion, control of oil fields and refineries and cash smuggling.
The Iraqi government and several global financial institutions have taken steps to prevent banks in territories held by Islamic State from accessing the international financial system, FATF said in a report issued in February.
Building confidence
Naim Khudair, director general of the Anti-Money Laundering Office at the Central Bank of Iraq, said the government had pledged to pass new legislation for anti-money laundering and terrorism financing by October 2015.
“There are instructions to give special importance to monitoring bank transactions by politicians and their families in addition to monitoring their dealings in real estate and gold,” Khudair said.
Central Bank Governor Ali Al Allaq said the new law would help reassure foreign investors.
“The new law will facilitate the entry of big companies into Iraq and increase their confidence in the country’s economic environment,” he said.
The deteriorating security situation, poor governance and inconsistent regulations have kept Iraq at low ratings of global rankings for doing business, according to the World Bank.
Mithaq Al Hamidi, a member of parliament’s economy and investment committee, said that while it would prove difficult for Iraq to recover smuggled funds, the new law would have a greater impact in preventing illegal transactions.
MP Najeeba Najeeb, another member of the committee, said that the new draft law was backed by all political parties. But she said that more cooperation between the executive, legislative and judiciary branches were needed to tackle corruption and money laundering.
TRANSFORMATION IS A FINGERPRINT… “ESREFLAK” RESHAPES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CITIZENS AND MONEY.
Baghdad/Al-Masala: Iraq has achieved a qualitative leap in the electronic banking sector, ranking third in the Arab world in the number of bank cards issued, with a rate exceeding 46.5 cards per 100 people. This rate puts Iraq ahead of Jordan and Morocco, and close to the Gulf states, which have long led the field.
This progress was based on a dual strategy that combined institutional support from the Central Bank of Iraq with popular support through awareness campaigns that met with a remarkable response, most notably the “Spend It” campaign, which sparked a wave of cultural change in the way people handle money.
In a short period of time, the campaign was able to break through the walls of cash habits, replacing them with easy and safe digital options. Hashtags like #spendyours and #makeyouruseseasier flooded social media platforms, transforming from mere advertising slogans into real-life experiences shared by people.
Haider Al-Zaidi tweeted on the “X” platform, saying: “This is the first time I have paid with a fingerprint and without cash at Abu Ammar’s store. Thank you to the #SpendYou campaign, which taught me this feature and facilitated the procedures.” This is a common testimony among new users of electronic payment.
The campaign invested more in field presence than in billboards, entering popular markets and signing partnerships with restaurants, gas stations, and even food stalls, giving it a popular feel uncommon among official digital transformation campaigns.
The Central Bank of Iraq confirmed in its latest data that electronic payment transactions increased by 62% during the first quarter of 2025 compared to last year, with more than 15 million card and point-of-sale (POS) payment transactions recorded. This reflects widespread acceptance of a more reliable technical infrastructure.
The campaign focused on the concept of simplicity of use and security of the experience, removing the psychological and cultural barriers associated with fear of financial technology, especially in a country where a large portion of the economy still operates in cash and on the margins of banking.
The campaign was integrated into a comprehensive national vision for the transition to a cashless economy. However, it did not follow the traditional path of digitization, opting instead for gradualism and partnership, using a language relatable to the people and tangible services on the ground.
Most Iraqi cities have witnessed a growing demand for card and mobile payments. This trend is evident in transportation stations, small shops, and even kiosks, which now display signs reading “We support you, spend it,” a direct reflection of the shifting business and societal mentality.
“Asreflak” gained double power because it wasn’t just a top-down decision, but rather the product of a need from below. Field monitoring showed that people were ready to embrace this change, but were waiting for trust, and now they have found it.