Africa-Press – Eswatini. The United States has pledged deeper cooperation with Eswatini in its fight against illicit financial flows, a multi-billion-dollar drain on Africa’s development, promising to help track, seize, and recover stolen assets.
Speaking at the opening of the Eswatini Inter-Agency Coordination Workshop on Asset Forfeiture and Financial Crime in Mbabane this week, US Embassy Political Economic Officer Allen Hodges hailed the country’s progress in clamping down on financial crime.
He pointed to more than 25 money laundering investigations launched under Eswatini’s Inter-Agency Coordination Framework, a platform linking financial intelligence units, prosecutors, regulators, and investigators, as proof that coordination is producing results.
“Eswatini’s progress sets a strong example for the region, and we are hopeful this workshop will build on that momentum,” Hodges told delegates gathered at the Hilton Garden Inn.
The urgency is clear. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Africa loses an estimated US$88.6 billion every year, the equivalent of 3.7% of its GDP, through illicit financial flows (IFFs).
These flows include tax evasion, trade misinvoicing, money laundering, and outright corruption. For resource-rich countries, the losses are devastating: wealth is siphoned into offshore accounts while budgets for hospitals, schools, and infrastructure are gutted.
The African Union’s High-Level Panel on IFFs, chaired by former South African president Thabo Mbeki, has warned that these illicit flows “rob Africa of the resources needed for sustainable development” and deepen inequality.
The two-day Mbabane workshop brought together law enforcement agencies, regulators, and judicial officers from across Eswatini to tighten asset recovery processes, improve intelligence sharing, and close legal loopholes exploited by financial criminals.
Hodges stressed that tackling IFFs is not just a matter of criminal justice, it’s about protecting the country’s economic sovereignty.
“Illicit financial flows undermine good governance, erode public trust, and deny citizens the benefits of their country’s resources,” he said.The US support is part of a wider international push to help smaller economies like Eswatini take on increasingly sophisticated cross-border syndicates.
Eswatini’s crackdown comes as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) works to operationalise its Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) under the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investment.
The committee, which held its inaugural meeting in February 2024 — aims to align member states’ laws and enforcement with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards.
The push comes amid fears of more countries being greylisted, following South Africa and Mozambique. Eswatini is under pressure to meet FATF’s stringent compliance measures to avoid the reputational and economic damage of greylisting.
In 2024, the Ministry of Finance reported that Eswatini lost over E200 million to money laundering in the previous year. The Eswatini Financial Intelligence Unit (EFIU) received:
1,005 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) in 2023, flagging potential laundering of E283 million.
38,652 Cash Threshold Reports (CTRs) worth a combined E3.48 billion, filed when cash transactions exceeded legal thresholds.
From these, the EFIU produced 16 intelligence reports shared with law enforcement, supporting investigations into offences such as tax evasion, which remains the most common predicate crime.
The EFIU works closely with the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), and the Eswatini Revenue Authority (ERA), responding to targeted intelligence requests and feeding data into ongoing investigations.
The EFIU’s 2026 strategic plan, approved last year, sets out measures to improve detection and enforcement. These include a dedicated bank account for fines and penalties, and pursuing membership in the EGMONT Group, an international network of financial intelligence units that share information on cross-border financial crime.
But the challenge isn’t limited to formal banking. The EFIU has flagged the continued popularity of informal investment schemes, despite repeated public warnings.
A recent report by the Eswatini Financial Times estimated that emaSwati have lost over E340 million to pyramid and Ponzi schemes in recent years, many of which collapse within months.
Financial crime experts warn that if Eswatini fails to stem illicit flows, the economic consequences will be severe: declining investor confidence, restricted access to global financial systems, and a growing dependence on external loans, all while the country’s wealth sits hidden overseas.
By combining international partnerships with domestic enforcement reforms, Eswatini hopes to send a clear message: the era of hiding dirty money is coming to an end.
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