Eswatini will host a four-day regional training to strengthen the country’s capacity to trace illicit wealth, uncover hidden asset ownership and prosecute money laundering cases.
The training, scheduled for next week will bring together 40 to 45 prosecutors, investigators and financial intelligence analysts from institutions responsible for tackling corruption and financial crime.
Organised by the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption (AUABC), the African Union Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security’s Governance and Human Rights Division, and the African Asset Recovery Practitioners’ Forum (AARP Forum), the training is being held in partnership with the Eswatini Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
It is financially supported by the GIZ AUSFIFD Programme, which focuses on combating illicit financial flows and improving debt management in Africa.
The training is themed ‘Implementing CAPAR and curbing Illicit Financial Flows (IFF): Following the Money, Finding the Owner’.
According to information published by the AUABC, the programme follows a request from the ACC for support in strengthening its officers’ ability to implement the Common African Position on Asset Recovery (CAPAR).
The commission identified two key areas requiring attention: prosecuting money laundering as a stand-alone offence, even where there has been no successful prosecution of the underlying crime and identifying the ultimate beneficial owners of assets held through companies and trusts.
The latter involves looking beyond registered owners or nominees to establish who ultimately owns or controls an asset.
The training aims to equip practitioners with practical skills to investigate financial crimes, trace proceeds of crime and pursue the recovery of assets, including those hidden behind complex corporate structures.
Participants will be drawn mainly from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, ACC, Royal Eswatini Police Service, Eswatini Financial Intelligence Centre and Eswatini Revenue Service.
There will also be limited representation from the Judiciary and policy institutions.
Sessions will cover financial investigations, asset tracing and freezing, international cooperation, mutual legal assistance as well as conviction-based and non-conviction-based forfeiture.
Participants will also examine the return of assets held in foreign jurisdictions, human rights considerations in asset recovery and the distinction between beneficial ownership and ultimate beneficial ownership.
Practical exercises will include simulations of asset tracing and freezing procedures, preparation of mutual legal assistance requests and case-based work on stand-alone money laundering offences.
The AUABC says participants are expected to leave the training better equipped to investigate and prosecute money laundering using financial and circumstantial evidence as well as trace and document the people who ultimately own or control assets concealed through companies and trusts.
The initiative comes amid concerns over the scale of illicit financial flows from Africa and their impact on governments’ ability to fund public services and mobilise domestic resources.
The High-Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, commonly known as the Mbeki Panel, estimated that the continent loses more than US$89 billion annually through illicit financial flows.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimated the annual figure at about US$88.6 billion in its 2020 report.
The African Economic Outlook 2026, as cited in the AUABC information, projects losses of up to US$587 billion annually through illicit flows, corruption, profit shifting and unfair risk premiums.
The training is intended to strengthen cooperation among institutions involved in detecting financial crime, prosecuting offenders and recovering assets, while promoting approaches that comply with human rights standards.
