Nairobi, Kenya – Organised crime has surged across Africa since 2019, while efforts to combat it have weakened, according to the 2025 Africa Organised Crime Index released on 17 November.

Almost all countries in Africa (92.5%) are characterised as having low resilience to organised crime, with 23 countries affected by the particularly devastating combination of high criminality and low resilience. The most pervasive criminal markets are financial crimes, human trafficking, non-renewable resource crimes, the trade in counterfeit goods and arms trafficking.

 

The Organised Crime Index is published by the European Union-funded ENACT programme (Enhancing Africa's Response to Transnational Organised Crime) – run by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), INTERPOL and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC).

 

'Eight years of data and four issues of the Africa Organised Crime Index provide a rich pool of information that gives us an unprecedented overview of illicit economies across the continent,' says Mark Shaw, Executive Director of GI-TOC. 'Thanks to the ENACT research programme and our cooperation with the ISS, we have pioneered a methodology for measuring organised crime first in Africa, which has now been scaled up to a Global Organised Crime Index produced every two years.'

 

'This has been an innovative flagship project,' says Eric Pelser, ENACT Programme Head at the ISS. 'Our partnership with GI-TOC has produced in-depth analysis that goes beyond research – we've taken the recommendations emanating from the Africa Index to the highest levels of policy-making, ensuring that evidence drives action across the continent.'

 

Criminal markets show considerable diversity across the continent. East Africa stands out for high human trafficking, arms trafficking and human smuggling. North Africa leads globally in cannabis trade and ranks second for financial crimes. Non-renewable resource crimes dominate Central Africa, cocaine trade dominates West Africa, and wildlife trade is most prevalent in Southern Africa.

 

State-linked actors drive organised crime in nearly half of African nations, with influence rated ‘severe’ in 48% of countries. Foreign criminal groups pose an increasingly significant threat, particularly in West Africa, reflecting transnational cocaine trafficking and private military companies engaged in illicit activities.

 

Africa’s digital boom has fuelled a surge in cyber crime, particularly online financial fraud and ransomware, which is now rising in four of the continent’s five regions.

 

Criminality thrives in volatile environments. Many countries with the highest criminality scores are plagued by conflict and instability, with a relatively high correlation (0.59) between the Fragile States Index and criminality.

 

Governance has a strong impact on resilience to organised crime, with a strong (0.81) correlation between Africa's resilience and the Democracy Index. Democratic countries are more resilient in their response, whilst authoritarian states tend to either embrace organised crime or suppress it with violent crackdowns.

 

Non-state actors play a vital role in supporting vulnerable communities and holding authorities accountable. However, since the 2021 Index, the 'nonstate actors' resilience indicator has declined the most.

 

'While these findings are concerning, they provide the evidence base needed for effective responses,' says Shaw. 'The data, analysis and recommendations in this report can guide policymakers, researchers and civil society in developing targeted interventions to combat organised crime and strengthen resilience across the continent.'

Notes for editors

• The 2025 Africa Organised Crime Index is based on analysis and inputs from over 160 experts. In its fourth and final iteration, it combines eight years of qualitative and quantitative data to assess how organised crime and resilience have evolved in Africa since 2019.
• A dedicated website – africa.ocindex.net – allows for comparison between countries, enabling policymakers to identify local, national and regional trends.
• The index assesses resilience to organised crime, including political leadership and governance, criminal justice, economic and financial environments, and civil society. It aims to stimulate informed dialogue on the impact of criminality and promote policies to build resilience.

For further information and interviews, please contact: [email protected]

 

Read the full 2025 Africa Organised Crime Index, including comprehensive rankings and policy recommendations, here.