This report examine issues of money laundering and terrorism financing in East Africa, which pose a significant threat to security and development in the subregion.
Both the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group have identified a number of states in the subregion as demonstrating weak implementation of international standards on anti–money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) issues. There is consequently a growing recognition that states of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) stand to benefit in multiple ways from a more concerted effort to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. There is also, however, a chronic limitation of data and knowledge about the problems of money laundering and terrorism financing and about AML/CFT vulnerabilities, risks, and capacities in the subregion.
In this study, the IGAD Security Sector Program (ISSP) and CGCC set out to provide a more detailed and nuanced analysis of AML/CFT challenges and opportunities in the IGAD region. The study responds to repeated requests by the ISSP’s and CGCC’s partners in the subregion who sought assistance in obtaining baseline data about money laundering risks and AML capacity in the region and guidance on the data’s potential use for CFT efforts. Experts from the East African and Horn of Africa subregion coordinated and conducted the project and, where appropriate, drew on outside expertise. The study was prepared by independent researchers with support and guidance from the ISSP and CGCC and an informal advisory group of interested officials, academics, and business professionals from the subregion.
Informal money transfer services offer a resilient source of income for some 40 percent of Somali households that lack other meaningful sources of income, let alone access to basic financial services. With $1.0–1.5 billion being remitted from the diaspora each year, remittances serve as a vital lifeline to Somali communities. Yet growing concern over terrorist and criminal exploitation of poorly regulated remittance flows—as demonstrated by Barclays decision to discontinue the accounts of money transfer companies by the end of September 2013—threatens to place the livelihoods of millions of already vulnerable Somalis in jeopardy. Capitalizing on Trust explores the complex economic, social, and political impacts of Somali remittances and offers ideas for improving their regulation, including combating money laundering and countering terrorism financing, and harnessing the power of remittances to help rebuild Somalia.
This policy brief looks at how a culture of peaceful cohabitation between diverse Kenyan communities has been threatened in recent years by terrorism and violent extremism. The brief describes efforts to prevent radicalization in the country, particularly among Kenyan youth, and explores opportunities for expanding counterradicalization programming throughout the region.
This article, published in the African Security Review, begins with an overview of the terrorist threat and vulnerabilities in eastern Africa and the capacity of governments to respond. It then looks at the response at the subregional level and what has developed into the primary mechanism for fostering deeper subregional cooperation, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Capacity Building Programme Against Terrorism, and how it may be improved. It also examines how the United Nations can help to strengthen that cooperation and the opportunity offered by the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
This report provides an analysis of issues and challenges relevant to the implementation of the UN Strategy in East Africa and an overview of the Strategy-related counterterrorism efforts of some of the key stakeholders in the subregion. It offers a series of recommendations aimed at states, the United Nations, and regional and subregional bodies on how to further the implementation of the Strategy in East Africa with a view to strengthening counterterrorism cooperation in this volatile subregion.
