Botswana
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Southern Africa’s fight against corruption needs Collective Action
A high-level meeting of heads of anti-corruption agencies in the Southern African Development Community SADC last month was a chance to take stock of member countries’ efforts to tackle corruption. The meeting allowed for a reflection on many ongoing activities and discussions around Collective Action in the region this year. It was the perfect opportunity to reflect on how to galvanise joint efforts against the region’s biggest scourge. Speaking to delegates, Scarlet Wannenwetsch, Collective Action Specialist, highlighted the underused capacity of the private sector. Businesses are full of dynamism and talent, both of which are critical in fighting corruption and other transnational crimes. To harness the private sector’s potential, she emphasised the importance of building trust by fostering regional multi-stakeholder networks. Bringing together anti-corruption champions from the public sector, private sector and civil society helps to create “good” networks – ones powerful enough to fight the corrupt networks that are holding back development in the region. Appetite for engagement The Basel Institute has been a long-standing partner of the SADC Secretariat through the work of the Private Sector team. Our team has been impressed by the level of innovation in the region. Some feature in a publication capturing good practices that was created by, with and for anti-corruption agencies in Africa. We have also been training SADC corruption prevention officers on how to engage with the private sector through Collective Action approaches. Our partners consistently express a desire for more opportunities to engage and exchange with other stakeholders. They realise that no one group can tackle corruption alone. Working towards building a community of practice To sow the seeds for such a regional multi-stakeholder network, we launched the first Southern African Anti-Corruption Collective Action Forum earlier this year in collaboration with the Southern African Anti-Corruption Network SAACoN and The Ethics Institute. The event brought together participants from the private sector, civil society and government institutions to discuss concrete opportunities for learning and collaboration. For many, it was the first time they had met at the regional level. The event was also a chance to celebrate progress. CoST Uganda won our Southern Africa Anti-Corruption Collective Action Award for its outstanding achievements in tackling corruption and raising business integrity in the region. What’s next? In order to build on the momentum of the Forum and on the energy of the SADC region’s anti-corruption leaders, it is crucial that member states continue to prioritise collaboration and Collective Action. Government anti-corruption agencies needs close, sustained collaboration with the private sector and civil society if they want to develop a more inclusive strategy to prevent corruption – and if they want that strategy to actually work in practice. That applies not only at the country and sector level, but at the regional level too. And that’s what Collective Action can bring. We look forward to continuing our fruitful collaboration with the SADC Secretariat and wider partners to support anti-corruption Collective Action in the region. Learn more about our work on the B20 Collective Action Hub and find inspiration in its global database of initiatives.
Ten-country Advanced Operational Analysis training offers chance to reflect on the effectiveness of AML systems
Twenty anti-corruption investigators and financial intelligence analysts from 10 African countries completed an intensive Advanced Operational Analysis course last week hosted by the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre CAACC . Delivered online by our International Centre for Asset Recovery ICAR training team, the workshop blended eLearning modules with live video sessions in which the participants worked together to solve a simulated corruption case. Enhancing mutual understanding The participants came from anti-corruption agencies and Financial Intelligence Units FIUs in Botswana, South Africa, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Namibia, Mauritius, Zambia and Lesotho. As usual in ICAR training programmes, the multi-agency approach helped participants to better understand each other’s needs and roles. FIU analysts were encouraged to tailor their intelligence products to the needs of investigators in law enforcement agencies. In turn, investigators learnt how an FIU operates by taking the Operational Analysis eLearning module and solving the simulated case. By the end of the week, participants fully understood the value of breaking silos down, of exchanging information and coordinating their actions, nationally and regionally. Reflecting on FATF mutual evaluations The training was also an opportunity for the participants to reflect on the lessons learnt from the recent Financial Action Task Force FATF evaluations of Mauritius, Zambia and Botswana. These three countries have undergone an FATF fourth-round evaluation, which covers the effectiveness of national systems to combat money laundering and terrorist financing and not merely technical compliance with FATF Recommendations. The Basel AML Index, which assesses the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing around the world, has consistently noted that countries typically fall down the rankings when assessed with the new methodology. The participants together looked at ways to enhance effectiveness in the use of financial intelligence for money laundering investigations, as well as in investigations, prosecutions and the confiscation of assets. Impact and collaboration This impact-driven training aimed to provide participants with skills that are directly applicable in their daily work. We were happy to receive participants’ comments including “it touched on similarities of the case I am currently investigating” and “the financial analysis will improve the presentation of my case”. One participant commented that the training will “help me in investigating suspicious transaction reports that I recently received”. The Basel Institute has a long-standing relationship with the Botswana-based CAACC and has conducted previous workshops in 2017 and 2020. See our article about the 2020 workshop on Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery for more information about the CAACC and our fruitful collaboration. ICAR training in multiple languages To find out more about ICAR training programmes, please download our latest brochure in English, Spanish, French or Portuguese: English: Training programmes – Financial investigations and asset recovery Español: Programas de capacitación – Investigaciones financieras y recuperación de activos Français : Programmes de formation – Enquêtes financières et recouvrement d’avoirs Português: Programas de formação – Investigações financeiras e recuperação de activos
Interactive training programme promotes regional collaboration in Africa
With a view to fostering co-operation across regional and international boarders to successfully handle asset recovery cases, the International Centre for Asset Recovery recently had the opportunity to conduct a regional training programmes in Botswana. The workshop, which took place in August and was co-financed by the African Development Bank AfDB , the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre CAACC and the Basel Institute, was delivered to investigators and legal officers of anti-corruption agencies from eight African Commonwealth countries. ICAR is pleased to see that the training has now led to fruitful discussions with the AfDB and CAACC with a view to cementing a long-term tripartite relationship and future collaboration in regional training initiatives. A second regional ICAR training programme is planned in collaboration with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa COMESA . This workshop will target investigators, prosecutors, magistrates and representatives of Financial Intelligence Units and Central Banks of a select group of COMESA countries. The main objective of this training will be to demonstrate and underscore the importance of international cooperation in successfully handling money laundering and corruption cases.
Regional training workshop for the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre
A regional training workshop for the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre has highlighted the importance of cross-border co-operation in solving corruption and asset recovery cases. During August 2017, experts from the International Centre for Asset Recovery ICAR conducted a regional training workshop in Botswana in collaboration with the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre CAACC for 35 investigators and legal officers of Anti-Corruption Agencies in eight Commonwealth African countries: Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Kenya, Mauritius, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia. The regional training initiative was co-financed by the African Development Bank, CAACC and the Basel Institute on Governance. The workshop aimed at providing a platform for inter-agency networking across regional borders as participants were divided into seven groups and encouraged to interact with one another in the interest of improving regional co-ordination and co-operation. Judge Lot Moroka of Botswana attended the final day of the workshop when the participants presented their findings in respect of the simulated financial investigation, which they were required to “investigate”. During his subsequent presentation on a “ Regional perspective of the problems and challenges posed by the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases ”, he also commented on these presentations, reinforcing the importance of addressing the elements of the offences charged. He congratulated the ICAR experts on the manner in which they had facilitated the training as it clearly allowed the participants to match relevant evidence to the elements. Corruption cases are lost because there is a failure at a procedural level to follow rules of evidence and procedure, and, at a substantive evidentiary level, to provide adequate evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Participation at the 12th Global Programme on Anti-Corruption, Financial Crimes and Asset Recovery in Botswana
In early August the Basel Institute participated in the 12th Global Programme on Anti-Corruption, Financial Crimes and Asset Recovery in Botswana, which was coordinated by Interpol's Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes Unit in partnership with the African Development Bank and the Commonwealth Anti-Corruption Centre. The three-day workshop brought together some 22 participants from 15 countries in Africa, principally from the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities and the Southern African Forum against Corruption, and covered a variety of topics including corruption and money laundering, asset tracing and recovery, international cooperation in asset confiscation, emerging trends in electronic money and mobile payments, and the management of seized and recovered assets. In the context of this workshop, the participants, which included heads of anti-corruption agencies, senior investigators and prosecutors, shared their experiences in relation to the aforementioned topics and examined the latest legal tools and investigation techniques for the recovery of proceeds of corruption. Other speakers of the workshop included experts from Interpol, the World Bank StAR and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC . Ms Florence Freda Dennis, Division Manager, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Department of the African Development Bank, emphasised the need for African law enforcement officials to "build a collaborative network to learn and share information on effective strategies to fight corruption which will ensure that there is no safe haven for the perpetuators of such crimes on the continent."