Nairobi, Dec. 3 -- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of the economy. They make up more than 98 percent of businesses, employ about 14.9 million Kenyans, and contribute roughly 40 percent of the GDP.

SMEs are the engines of innovation, employment, and household income, the very foundation of Kenya's Vision 2030 and the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Yet, as these enterprises expand into regional and global markets, an invisible but powerful threat of trade-based money laundering (TBML) has emerged. Once dismissed as a technical issue for banks and regulators, TBML is now a big risk shaping which businesses gain access to international finance and which are locked out.

TBML occurs when criminals disguise i...