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."