A new The Sentry latest report released in July, titled, Looted Funds used to buy African Real Estate, reveals the suspicious real estate acquisitions of high-profile politicians in eastern and southern Africa.
The report traces the funds to four Countries notorious for ploughing back proceeds of crime into real estate. The countries are Namibia, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda.
This habit is particularly rampant in war-torn or near war-torn countries.
African kleptocrats, especially those in war-torn countries, have increasingly favored real estate in African cities as a means for laundering the proceeds of corruption, despite the greater headlines that result from “kleptocracy tours” in the United Kingdom and Europe. Banks, governments, and regional and international organizations have not prioritized these activities in cities like Nairobi, Kampala, Windhoek, Cape Town, and Johannesburg, creating an opportunity for corrupt actors to exploit the sector. Kleptocrats may choose these destinations because of their comparative political, economic, or monetary stability.
By working to curtail money laundering through real estate in eastern and southern Africa, banks, governments, international organizations, and civil society groups can put pressure on kleptocrats and their international facilitators and combat profiteering from corruption, violence, and human rights abuses elsewhere on the continent. – The Sentry
Read the rest of the report by clicking here.
About The Sentry
The Sentry is an investigative and policy team that follows the dirty money connected to African war criminals and transnational war profiteers and seeks to shut those benefiting from violence out of the international financial system.
