Building Zambia’s capacity to investigate financial crime and recover illicit assets
How the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery used an embedded expert model to support Zambian authorities in complex financial crime investigations and asset recovery. It is leading to tangible increases in frozen and recovered assets and in successful international cooperation.
Impact highlights
- Embedded experts supported 31 complex corruption and financial crime cases, with an estimated asset value of CHF 640 million and tangible recovery results.
- Transferred skills, not just knowledge, through a train-the-trainer model and multi-agency case simulations that are now institutionalised within Zambian authorities.
- Strengthened cross-border enforcement, helping Zambia issue mutual legal assistance requests to 12 jurisdictions and cooperate internationally to freeze illicit assets.
The situation
Effectively enforcing laws and recovering illicit assets is vital to mobilise resources for development and reduce reliance on aid. Strong asset recovery systems reinforce justice institutions and the rule of law, which are essential for civic trust, stability and investment. However, many countries face challenges in investigating complex financial crimes, cooperating internationally and managing seized and confiscated assets.
What we did
Drawing on over 20 years of experience, the International Centre for Asset Recovery, a specialised centre of the Basel Institute on Governance, provided tailored technical assistance to Zambian authorities through an embedded expert model.
Working closely with investigators and prosecutors from the Anti-Corruption Commission, Drug Enforcement Commission and National Prosecution Authority, our experts combined in-person mentoring on complex, high-value cases with targeted training and guidance on legal and institutional reforms. In 2024, our Zambia-based team supported 31 corruption and financial crime cases with an estimated asset value of CHF 640 million.
The impact
Step by step, Zambia is strengthening its ability to investigate financial crime and recover illicit assets.
- Building sustainable skills: Through a train-the-trainer programme initiated in 2024, five officers from different agencies are on track to be certified to deliver ICAR’s financial investigations and asset recovery training. Nearly 130 frontline officers participated in multi-agency workshops using simulated cases tailored to the Zambian context. The Anti-Corruption Commission also integrated ICAR eLearning into its induction programme; 50 officers completed this training in 2024 and registered Zambian users on our online learning platform Basel LEARN rose to over 500.
- Recovering and freezing assets: By the end of 2024, our case support assisted Zambia to recover around CHF 30 million, confiscate additional property including farmland, hotels, residential buildings, a commercial complex and 37 vehicles, and freeze a further CHF 24 million in property and cash.
- Strengthening international cooperation: Zambia is engaging productively with international financial centres for the first time. In 2024, authorities sent 16 mutual legal assistance requests to 12 jurisdictions and cooperated on parallel investigations with two jurisdictions. Over CHF 14 million has been frozen in Jersey and Switzerland.
Wider context
Alongside casework, ICAR experts contributed to updated legislation and institutional reforms to improve mutual legal assistance and international cooperation. They also supported the development of a national policy on asset recovery and asset management and helped formalise multi-agency cooperation through a legal framework for an inter-agency asset recovery and management unit. ICAR provides this type of targeted, case-based technical assistance on asset recovery to more than 40 government agencies across four continents.