Economy

EZULWINI - Eswatini Financial Intelligence Centre (EFIC) Director General Babhekile Matsebula has declared that crime must not pay in the kingdom, calling for tougher and coordinated efforts in tracing and recovering illicit wealth.

Matsebula made the remarks when officially opening a five-day training on Financial Investigation and Asset Recovery in Ezulwini yesterday, attended by investigators, prosecutors and analysts from various national agencies.

She said the training marked a crucial step towards ensuring that criminals were deprived of their ill-gotten gains.

“This is not just a technical exercise, it is about strengthening our justice system, restoring public trust and ensuring that crime does not pay — not on our watch,” she said.

Matsebula highlighted that illicit financial flows continue to rob Africa of US$89 billion (about E1.6 trillion) every year, money that could otherwise fund hospitals, schools and infrastructure. “These illicit flows undermine State capacity, fuel corruption and further threaten the security and integrity of our economies,” she said.

She noted that Eswatini was not immune to the challenge, despite making progress in aligning its systems with international anti-money laundering standards. “While we have made commendable progress in strengthening our legal and institutional frameworks, following the Mutual Evaluation Report of 2022, we still have milestones to achieve, particularly in enhancing our effectiveness in investigation, prosecution and asset recovery,” she said. Matsebula pointed out to the importance of multi-agency cooperation in the fight against financial crime.

 “As the Eswatini Financial Intelligence Centre, our work rests heavily on collaboration. While EFIC is the national centre for receiving, analysing and disseminating financial intelligence, the real impact is realised when law enforcement acts on that intelligence, prosecutions succeed and criminals are deprived of their illicit gains through asset forfeiture,” she said. The director general explained that EFIC’s role was to ‘filter out potentially illegal financial transactions’ and provide actionable intelligence to the police and other competent authorities.

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EU urges Eswatini to fast-track reforms to SEZ law

EZULWINI – The European Union (EU) has urged Eswatini to fast-track reforms to its Special Economic Zones (SEZ) law to align with global tax standards and avoid continued listing as a non-cooperative jurisdiction.

EU Ambassador to Eswatini  Karsten Mecklenburg  made the call yesterday when addressing the official opening of a five-day training on Financial Investigation and Asset Recovery in Ezulwini.

*Full article available in our publication.

Minister for Finance Neal Rijkenberg says recovering assets from financial crimes sends a strong message that no one should profit from wrongdoing. (Pic: Khulile Thwala)