Combating illicit financial flows and related corruption in Africa: Towards a more integrated and effective approach

Abstract

The relationship between anti-money laundering and anti-corruption strategies is a key issue for developing countries. Corruption and money laundering cannot be effectively addressed solely by the specialised agencies mandated to deal with them. Supportive frameworks and complementary structures, such as other public agencies closely associated with vulnerable sectors, must be involved. These structures should be familiarised with money laundering risks and typologies and with the important role they can play in gathering intelligence that contributes to the work of financial intelligence units. FIUs in the countries studied here — Botswana, Tanzania, and Zambia — are undermined by lack of human and financial resources and by flaws in enabling legislation. In order to effectively contain the threat of money laundering as a facilitator of corruption, they need to confront context-based particularities, notably the prevalence of cash transactions in the economy. Governments and donors in developing countries should work to build the capacity of the financial intelligence units and strengthen their collaboration with anti-corruption agencies and with complementary institutions and partners at home and abroad.