Namibia, EU partner to combat illicit financial flows

Namibia, in collaboration with the European Union (EU), has strengthened its efforts to combat illicit financial flows (IFFs) – which are cross-border movements of money that is illegally earned, transferred, or used.

This comes after Namibia, together with the Swedish Tax Agency (STA), on Thursday celebrated the graduation of Namibia’s first cohort trained to combat IFFs under the EU-funded SecFin Africa project.

The year-long programme brought together officials from the Bank of Namibia, the Namibia Revenue Agency and the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) to address tax losses linked to withholding tax on services.

Over the past year, Namibia’s six-member team worked with STA coaches to analyse drivers of tax-related IFFs and design solutions tailored to Namibia’s administrative and economic context.

According to the statement issued on Friday, the initiative also deepened cooperation between national institutions and facilitated exchanges with other African countries.

“The four-year collaboration foresees a new Namibian team each year addressing a different IFF-related challenge.

“This is part of the wider EU SecFin Africa project, aimed at supporting Namibia in addressing the Financial Action Task Force grey listing,” reads the statement.

EU ambassador to Namibia Ana Beatriz-Martins says this is a tangible demonstration of the EU’s broader cooperation with Namibia in fighting IFFs and helping the country exit the grey list.

Namibia was greylisted last year by the FATF due to strategic deficiencies in its system to combat IFFs, such as money laundering and terrorist financing.

“Today’s graduation shows how practical, sustained partnership such as the SecFin Africa project, translates into stronger institutions, improved financial integrity and real progress in addressing the root causes of IFFs,” she said.

FIC director Bryan Eiseb says the project will contribute to reducing IFFs from roughly 9% of gross domestic product in 2025 to about 5% by 2030, in line with Namibia’s sixth National Development Plan.

Deputy ambassador of Sweden to Namibia and South Africa, Kristian Selerud has reaffirmed commitment to supporting African countries in strengthening revenue systems and combatting organised financial crime.

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