ESAAMLG LIAISON OFFICER – DAR-ES-SALAAM

In the last decade, illicit financial outflows from Africa have reached a level almost equivalent to the combined total annual inflows of official development assistance (ODA) and foreign direct investment (FDI) received by African countries. This vast volume of capital generated and moved illegally not only jeopardises the integrity of financial systems and the continent’s socio-economic development by stripping countries of much needed resources, but also has a devastating impact on countries’ governance, the rule of law and collective security. Indeed, much of these illicit financial flows (IFFs) stem from criminal activities and are laundered and/or used to fuel corruption, organised crime, terrorism, and related harmful activities. It is in this context that the present action aims to tackle the nexus between IFFs and transnational organised crime (TOC) in Sub-Saharan Africa, by emphasising the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). In doing so, it aims to contribute to an increase in resource mobilisation, stabilisation, and security on the continent.

The Action will build upon two regional capacity-building projects on AML/CFT, both coming to an end in 2024 and covering Eastern, Central and Southern Africa[1]; and Western Africa[2]. Applying a “follow and recover the money approach”, it will be implemented at national, regional and inter-regional levels in Sub-Saharan Africa and will leverage a comprehensive multi-stakeholder engagement strategy to maximise and sustain the results across the continent. It will also promote cooperation, knowledge exchange and the sharing of best practices between European and African practitioners.

The Overall Objective (Impact) of this action is to contribute to the fight against illicit financial flows linked to transnational organised crime, money laundering and terrorist financing with the ultimate goal of increasing domestic resource mobilisation, stabilisation and security in Sub-Saharan Africa.

To achieve this general objective, the action offers to work in an integrated manner at all relevant levels of intervention: at national level, regional level and at the level of civil society. Consequently, the Specific Objectives (Outcomes) of this action are:

1. National capacities, including law enforcement and judicial capacities to prevent and counter IFFs linked to transnational organised crime, money laundering and the financing of terrorism are strengthened and Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-compliant;
2. Effective regional and inter-regional cooperation and information sharing in the fight against IFFs, money laundering and the financing of terrorism is enhanced;

3. Increased public awareness and civil society’s role promote greater transparency and hold States accountable to take action against IFFs and organised crime.

    

These objectives will be implemented through the deployment of five teams: a Project Management Unit (PMU) seating in Brussels, Belgium and in charge of steering the action, as well as four regional hubs, in Cameroon, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania, tasked with the delivery of activities. Addressing the large number of countries targeted under this action will require varied levels of intensity, in particular for engagement at national level, outlined as follows: 

• A common training programme, offering ready-made trainings to all requesting beneficiary countries under the mandate of the Action;

• A facility option to support requesting countries featuring systemic deficiencies in their AML/CFT framework to improve technical compliance with FATF standards;

• A high-intensity programme to provide specific longer-term support to selected countries, answering a specific, wide-reaching issue faced by the jurisdiction, notably with regards to major FATF recommendations (technical compliance and effectiveness).

Regional engagement will be conducted in support of existing processes between peer-jurisdiction or through supporting key organisations, such as FATF-Styled Regional Bodies (FSRBs). Finally, the civil society will be mainly supported through grants, targeted to civil society organisations (CSO), consortiums of investigative journalists, whistle-blowers and/or research labs to support investigations and research on the fight against IFF.

The present Action is expected to be a substantial building block of the continental Team Europe Initiative to support Africa in Combatting Illicit Financial Flows and related Transnational Organised Crime (TEI IFF-TOC). It will contribute to all three associated components and be implemented in coordination with TEI’s members parallel initiatives.

[1] “Countering Transnational Organized Crime and terrorist groups by targeting Illicit Financial Flows in Eastern, Southern, Central Africa and Yemen” (AML-CFT ESCAY), funded under NDICI-GE (SSA regional MIP AAP 2022) with EUR 5M, implemented from 2022-2024 by CIVIPOL in 3434 countries from Eastern, Southern, Central Africa plus Yemen.

[2] “Organised Crime - West African Response to money laundering and the financing of terrorism” (OCWAR-M) project, funded under 11th ED with EUR 6,75M, implemented from 2019-2024 by Expertise France in 15 ECOWAS countries + Mauritania.