THE African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), on July 25, officially launched a three-year support project to combat money laundering and terrorism financing in their member countries.
The project is titled: Regional Capacity Development Project for Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism.
The launch ceremony, held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was attended by Fikile Zitha, ESAAMLG executive secretary, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, director, governance and economic reforms at the African Development Bank and Patricia Laverly Tanzania country manager for the African Development Bank.
Also in attendance were representatives from Burundi, Eritrea, Madagascar, Mozambique and South Sudan, which are the beneficiary countries. The event was graced by senior government officials of the United Republic of Tanzania and Representatives of development partners.
The project will be financed by a grant from the African Development Bank Group’s Transition Support Facility (TSF Pillar III) of approximately US$5,2 million. The project, which will be implemented by the ESAAMLG secretariat, will contribute to resilience in the Eastern and Southern African region by improving anti-money laundering/terrorism financing regimes, including by developing the capacity of ESAAMLG member States, with a particular focus on countries in transition. The five beneficiary countries are: Burundi, Eritrea, Madagascar, Mozambique and South Sudan.
The grant complements the bank group’s strategic and operational engagements at country and regional levels. It also aligns with its policy on the prevention of illicit financial flows, the bank’s Strategy for Economic Governance and the Bank Group Action Plan for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Illicit Financial Flows (2024 - 2026), which was launched in February 2025.
Coulibaly emphasised the bank’s commitment to fighting financial crimes in Africa not only to ESAAMLG but also to other Financial Action Task Force (FATF) style regional bodies, such as GIABA and GABAC, through its various instruments including programme-based operations and institutional support programmes.
He commended the long-standing collaboration between AfDB and ESAAMLG and confirmed the bank’s willingness to continue working with ESAAMLG in this important area.
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Zitha expressed satisfaction and applauded the commitment shown by AfDB which she said would go a long way in supporting the region especially at a time when ESAAMLG has just started its third Round of Mutual Evaluation.
In addition to being a FATF observer member, the African Development Bank is an observer member of ESAAMLG, which is a key stakeholder in the development of bank policies, strategies and action plans related to illicit financial flows, anti-money laundering and combating of terrorism.
