The government announced this Tuesday (11) that the country has made significant progress in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, and is moving closer to getting off the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Grey List.
The information was made public by the spokesman for the Council of Ministers, Inocêncio Impissa, who guaranteed that Mozambique has already fulfilled 25 of the 26 actions required by the FATF, with only the updating of the database of non-profit civil society organisations remaining, as reported in the newspaper O País.
According to the government spokesman, this progress is the result of the executive’s political commitment and the strengthening of supervision, investigation and prosecution capacities in money laundering matters. As a next step, a FATF team will visit the country in the middle of this year to audit the reforms implemented and validate their effectiveness. The government expects Mozambique to be removed from the Grey List by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
However, despite the government’s optimism, a recent study by the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP) casts doubt on the real possibility of Mozambique achieving this goal within the planned timeframe. The organisation warns that, despite the progress reported, the country is still considered a high risk for money laundering and may not be able to effectively demonstrate that the measures adopted are sustainable in the long term.
CIP’s warning is based on Mozambique’s latest classification in the Basel AML Index, an international indicator that measures the global risk of money laundering and financial crime.
According to this index, the country currently ranks 12th among the countries with the highest risk, with a score of 7.15 per cent. Although it has improved compared to 2023, when it ranked 6th with 7.88 per cent, Mozambique is still among the most vulnerable nations, surpassed only by countries like Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.
‘Mozambique has already complied with 25 of the 26 actions required by the FATF, with only the updating of the database of non-profit civil society organisations remaining’
Council of Ministers
In addition, the CIP emphasises that this improvement in the country’s position may not be a direct consequence of internal efforts, but rather of the increase in the number of countries assessed in the index, which has reduced Mozambique’s relative position without necessarily reflecting effective progress in the fight against money laundering.
Another point of concern raised by CIP refers to the lack of transparency and clarity in the results of the ‘Stop Money Laundering’ operation, launched in 2024 by the Attorney General’s Office.
The operation, which targeted 40 nationals and 15 foreigners suspected of financial crimes, resulted in the seizure of residential and commercial property in Maputo, Matola, Nacala and Nampula. However, so far there is no detailed information on the outcome of the investigations, which raises doubts about the effectiveness of the measures adopted to hold those involved to account.
Furthermore, the only FATF recommendation still pending, which concerns updating the database of non-profit civil society organisations, continues to make no concrete progress. This requirement is fundamental to ensuring greater control over potential terrorist financing risks, and failure to implement it could jeopardise the country’s efforts to get off the Grey List.
Since October 2022, Mozambique has been on the FATF’s Grey List, which has imposed restrictions on the national financial system, increasing surveillance on international transactions and limiting foreign investments. The government insists that it is committed to fulfilling the last outstanding requirement, but CIP warns that Mozambique’s removal from the list will depend not only on formal fulfilment of the criteria, but also on the credibility and transparency of the reforms implemented.
