Spotlight: Supporting SADC states’ action against money laundering and terrorist financing
ISS is supporting countries as they tackle financial crimes and take steps to exit the Financial Action Task Force grey list.
Published on 30 September 2026 in
Impact
Nine of the 16 Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries were grey listed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) between 2015 and 2025. But by September 2026, only Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo remained on the list.
FATF is an intergovernmental organisation that identifies and monitors countries that need to improve their actions against money laundering and terrorist financing. It safeguards the integrity of the global financial system by setting standards to help national authorities pursue illicit funds linked to drug trafficking, the arms trade and online fraud.
FATF evaluations have found criminals embedded in state institutions, and senior government officials collaborating with the private sector to commit financial crimes.
Being grey listed has debilitating political and economic consequences for affected countries, including reduced international trade and foreign investment.
Although SADC has a 2015 counter-terrorism strategy and a 2021 organised crime strategy, only a handful of countries have domesticated these important regional frameworks. As a result, enforcement remains weak, and prosecution rates are low due to limited investigative capacity.
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) has agreements with national institutions and the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group to tackle national risks and boost cooperation between regional bodies.
ISS worked with the Interpol Regional Bureau and the Angolan government to deliver a January 2026 workshop in Luanda to strengthen the ability of police investigators and intelligence officers from SADC states to detect, disrupt and investigate terror financing and money laundering.
ISS supported Namibia’s first terrorist prosecution with capacity building and technical assistance
The workshop, funded by the European Union, enhanced officials’ digital skills and techniques to deal with artificial intelligence, navigate the dark web, conduct searches in foreign languages, trace cryptocurrency and detect and investigate cybercrime. It included analyses of financing mechanisms used by terror groups, links between terrorism and organised crime, and FATF compliance obligations.
Several SADC states have partnered with ISS as they work to exit FATF’s grey list. After being grey listed in 2023, South Africa increased the investigation and prosecution of money laundering and terror financing, including better supervision of estate agencies, accountants, auditors, property developers and precious metals dealers who facilitate illicit financial activities.
ISS provided technical support to government departments and agencies working on FATF recommendations, and had an advisory role on a national FATF task team led by the Treasury. ISS trained 22 prosecutors on financial intelligence, money laundering, terror financing, and transnational organised crime.
Inter-agency workshops were run on detecting terrorist financing, giving expert witness testimony to support the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and preparing investigators for court appearances. ISS experts worked closely with the Treasury’s Financial Intelligence Centre, Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, NPA, government lawyers and police investigators.
South Africa was removed from the grey list in October 2025, after 32 months of FATF scrutiny, demonstrating its capacity for institutional reform through political will and technical expertise.
‘The country now needs to make these reforms a permanent feature of its financial governance landscape,’ says Martin Ewi, Senior Research Fellow at the ISS. ‘Financial integrity standards and strong independent institutions for financial supervision, law enforcement and prosecution are necessary for the rule of law, financial stability and economic development.’
Namibia was grey listed by FATF in 2024. The ISS has a memorandum of understanding with Namibia and supported its first terrorist prosecution with capacity building and technical assistance to enhance the skills of police, prosecutors and financial intelligence officials. National workshops and mentorships helped build case dockets and witness statements, and develop investigative and prosecution techniques. ISS also helped forge greater mutual legal assistance between Namibia and South Africa.
Namibia responded by strengthening institutional capacity to monitor and detect money laundering and terrorist financing, developing risk assessment tools and applying sanctions for breaches of financial standards. Nine laws were updated, four new pieces of legislation were passed, and Namibia was removed from the FATF grey list in June 2026.
For more information, contact:
Martin Ewi, ISS: [email protected]
