Money laundering and terrorist financing remain among the most persistent threats to global security, economic stability, and human rights. The recent joint call to action by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), INTERPOL, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) signals a renewed urgency for coordinated, innovative, and scalable responses.
Illicit Financial Flows and Development Impact
- Africa’s Losses: Africa faces illicit financial flows (IFFs) estimated at nearly $90 billion annually. This staggering sum represents resources siphoned away from critical development needs-water, sanitation, health, food, and energy infrastructure.
- Global Trends: According to the U.S. Treasury’s 2024 National Money Laundering Risk Assessment, money laundering enables a wide spectrum of criminal activity, distorts markets, and undermines the integrity of financial systems. Investment fraud alone cost U.S. citizens $3.3 billion in 2022, a 127% increase from the previous year.
- Digitalization and New Risks: The rapid expansion of digital financial services has fueled new forms of crime. INTERPOL’s 2024 Global Financial Fraud Assessment highlights the rise of business email compromise, romance baiting, phishing, and other online frauds, particularly in Africa’s increasingly digital economy.
Systemic Vulnerabilities
- Regulatory Gaps: Long-standing vulnerabilities persist, such as the misuse of shell companies, lack of timely access to beneficial ownership information, and insufficient regulation of non-financial businesses and certain intermediaries (e.g., investment advisers).
- Emerging Technologies: Criminals exploit decentralized finance (DeFi), online gaming, and virtual assets for laundering activities. The anonymity and speed of these platforms present unique regulatory challenges.
- Asset Recovery Effectiveness: FATF’s global network assessment reveals that almost 80% of countries are at a low or moderate level of effectiveness in asset recovery, highlighting a critical gap in depriving criminals and terrorists of their illicit gains.
Institutional Reactions and Statements
INTERPOL
Cyril Gout, INTERPOL Acting Executive Director of Police Services, underscored the foundational role of illicit finance in enabling all forms of organized crime:
“Illicit finance is not just one of many criminal threats – it is the enabler of them all. This is why INTERPOL focuses on developing and delivering innovative tools to facilitate international law enforcement cooperation and tackle illicit financial flows. We are proud to serve as a bridge between international commitments and national action.”
Valdecy Urquiza, INTERPOL Secretary General, emphasized the evolving nature of financial crime and the necessity of robust partnerships:
“Corruption and financial crime are among the biggest obstacles to economic and social development in Africa and around the world. The evolving nature of financial crime, particularly in the digital environment, requires strong partnerships between law enforcement and financial institutions. INTERPOL’s closer relationship with the African Development Bank Group will help law enforcement agencies and financial institutions across Africa tackle increasingly sophisticated financial crime threats.”
FATF
FATF President Elisa de Anda Madrazo highlighted the transnational nature of financial crime and the need for seamless cross-border cooperation:
“Criminals do not confine themselves within national borders, so we need to ensure that our borders do not provide opportunities for criminals to hide money and frustrate our pursuit of them.”
She further stressed:
“The FATF is committed to providing countries with the tools and the international forum to collectively tackle the challenges we all face today. Global defences against illicit finance are only as strong as our weakest link, so we are sounding the alarm so that all countries work together to meet the complex, transnational threats of today. We cannot let crime thrive.”
UNODC
UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly called for innovative, scalable solutions:
“This is a call to action to define innovative and scalable solutions to combat economic crime. Let us work together through our partnerships… to accelerate collective responses against criminal and terrorist financing to ensure our financial systems are drivers of peace, security, and prosperity.”
African Development Bank (AfDB)
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, AfDB President, articulated the development stakes:
“This partnership demonstrates our commitment to protecting development resources and ensuring they reach their intended beneficiaries. As the world’s most transparent financial institution for two consecutive editions… we maintain zero tolerance for corruption and terrorism financing. By joining forces with Interpol, we are strengthening our capacity to help African countries build robust systems against money laundering and financial crime.”
Critical Measures and Policy Recommendations
1- International Cooperation and Capacity Building
The joint statement by FATF, INTERPOL, and UNODC calls for:
- Strengthening International Standards: Accelerating the implementation of FATF’s anti-money laundering and terrorism financing standards.
- Enhancing Cross-Border Collaboration: Developing practical tools for practitioners to work more effectively across jurisdictions. Later in 2025, new guidance will be released to improve international collaboration, in partnership with the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.
- Capacity Building: Prioritizing training and technical assistance, especially in regions with acute vulnerabilities, to ensure effective implementation of risk-based approaches and asset recovery.
2- Public-Private Partnerships and Civil Society Engagement
- Joint Approaches: The leaders recognized the positive impact of Member States working with the private sector and civil society, particularly through public-private partnerships and task forces.
- Operational Acceleration: These partnerships enable more rapid and effective responses to evolving threats, leveraging shared expertise and resources.
3- Innovation and Technology
- New Tools: INTERPOL has developed innovative tools, such as the Silver Notice, to facilitate the identification and seizure of criminal assets across borders.
- Digital Threats: Addressing the challenges posed by DeFi, online gaming, and virtual assets requires adaptive regulatory frameworks and international cooperation.
4- Regional Focus: Africa
- AfDB-INTERPOL Partnership: The African Development Bank’s collaboration with INTERPOL is a pioneering step, focusing on sharing expertise, enhancing investigative capabilities, and developing preventive measures against cybercrime, corruption, and terrorism financing.
- Development Impact: With AfDB deploying about $10 billion annually in development financing, protecting these resources from financial crime is essential for sustainable growth and human rights realization.
- Capacity Building: The Bank is committed to building capacity in African countries, strengthening governance, and ensuring transparent and accountable use of resources.
Human Rights and Societal Implications
1- The Human Cost of Financial Crime
Illicit financial flows and money laundering undermine the ability of states to provide basic services, perpetuating poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. The diversion of billions of dollars from essential sectors such as health, education, and infrastructure directly impacts the realization of economic and social rights.
2- Vulnerable Populations
Financial crime disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, including the poor, women, and marginalized groups. The rise of digital fraud and scams-such as romance baiting and phishing-often targets individuals with limited digital literacy, compounding their vulnerability.
3- Governance and Accountability
Weaknesses in anti-money laundering frameworks erode public trust and enable corruption, which in turn undermines democratic institutions and the rule of law. Strengthening transparency, accountability, and due diligence systems is not only a technical imperative but a human rights obligation.
The UN 2026 Crime Congress
The upcoming 15th UN Crime Congress in Abu Dhabi (April 25–30, 2026) will provide a critical platform for Member States to commit to scalable and innovative responses to financial crime. The event is expected to catalyze further international cooperation, policy innovation, and resource mobilization.
The fight against money laundering and terrorist financing is at a critical juncture. The scale of illicit flows, the rapid evolution of digital threats, and persistent regulatory gaps demand a coordinated global response. The joint call to action by FATF, INTERPOL, and UNODC-supported by regional initiatives such as the AfDB-INTERPOL partnership-offers a blueprint for progress.
Key priorities must include:
- Accelerating the implementation of international standards.
- Enhancing cross-border and public-private cooperation.
- Investing in capacity building and technological innovation.
- Centering human rights and development outcomes in anti-financial crime strategies.
As the world prepares for the 2026 UN Crime Congress, the challenge is clear: to ensure that financial systems serve as engines of peace, security, and prosperity, rather than conduits for crime and corruption. The stakes-for development, governance, and human rights-could not be higher.