The Mozambique Financial Intelligence Office (GIFiM) has reported that a total of $7 million (MZN 442.4 million) intended for terrorism financing was detected in the country between 2017 and 2024.
In a Strategic Analysis Report (RAE), the entity explains that the financing was characterized by cash deposits and withdrawals, as well as small-value transfers which, when aggregated, resulted in substantial sums, aimed at circumventing banking and mobile financial systems.
The document published by Lusa states that the movements were carried out by individuals and/or entities associated with leaders of a terrorist group operating in some northern regions of the country, emphasizing that the funds were used to finance recruitment and logistics for the extremist group. Internally, these funds circulated in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Zambézia, Nampula, Sofala, and Manica, as well as in Maputo, with “the collaboration of financiers based in Mozambique and other African countries affected by the same phenomenon.”
“The entities suspected of financing terrorism are clients of financial institutions, some merchants residing in areas affected by terrorism, certain public officials, members of non-profit organizations, and private companies,” the report notes. The study is based on 86 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs), 403 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), eight information requests, and 2,929 mandatory threshold transfer reports, as well as financial intelligence and the National Risk Assessment on Terrorism Financing.
“The predominant channels for moving and concealing funds in the financial system, identified by GIFiM, are cash deposits, followed by various intra- and inter-bank transfers, using transaction splitting and routing funds through multiple accounts, including mobile wallets, to obscure their trail,” the report adds.
The report also highlights suspicious cases such as opening multiple e-money accounts in mobile financial services, and an international agency accusing a certain individual of being involved in financing a terrorist group in a country connected to a similar group in Mozambique.
A bank account of a public educational institution in Mocímboa da Praia district was also detected receiving split/parcelled cash deposits from multiple people originating in the city of Pemba, with one individual of Asian descent flagged as suspicious.
Since October 2017, Cabo Delgado — a province rich in natural resources, particularly gas — has experienced an armed insurgency that has killed thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis with over one million internally displaced persons.
In April, attacks spread to the neighboring province of Niassa. One of the most severe incidents occurred at Niassa Reserve and Mariri Environmental Center in Mecula district, where non-state armed groups attacked facilities, looted property, destroyed camps, and damaged an aircraft. These actions resulted in at least two deaths and displaced over two thousand people, 55% of whom are children.
Since June, rebel group attacks have escalated, targeting Chiúre, Muidumbe, Quissanga, Ancuabe, Meluco, and recently Mocímboa da Praia.
In 2024 alone, at least 349 people were killed in attacks in northern Mozambique, mostly claimed by the Islamic State, representing a 36% increase compared to the previous year, according to a study by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), an academic institution of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Source: Diário Económico
