Africa and the Global Illicit Economy

Abalone is a fairly innocuous little creature that fits in the palm of your hand. It's a type of sea snail found off the coast of South Africa, and abalone is also considered a delicacy in Asia.

It's been driven to near-extinction by massive levels of poaching, in a transnational criminal network that sees local, regional and international players compete for profits.

In this episode, Lindy speaks to Simon Haysom about a new report from the Global Initiative called Disrupting Abalone Harms: Illicit flows of H. midae from South Africa to East Asia.

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Speaker: Simone Haysom, Senior Analyst and Thematic Lead on Environmental Crime at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

Additional Links:

Paper - Disrupting Abalone Harms: Illicit flows of H. midae from South Africa to East Asia.

Civil Society Observatory of Illicit Economies in Eastern and Southern Africa

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

In January 2020, experts from around the world gathered in Bogotá Colombia at the Universidad de los Andes for the launch of the Drugs and Development Hub – set up by the London School of Economics, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, and the Global Partnership on Drug Policies and Development – this initiative seeks to bring together academics, decision-makers and people affected by drug economies to discuss new approaches to drug policy.

The original focus looked at development-orientated approaches to drug economies and the resilience of communities affected by drug cultivation and trafficking.

Today, as the Drugs and Development Hub launches the next phase, we will explore what drug markets and cultivation look like on the continent of Africa. But we will also look at how a change in approach, following the DDH development-led approach could help stem the tide of illicit drugs and improve the lives of those people affected.

Drugs and Development Hub Twitter

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Speakers:

Jason Eligh, Senior Expert for the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Daniel Brombacher, Head of the Global Partnership and Drug Policies and Development at GIZ in Germany

Simone Haysom, Senior Analyst, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Professor Etannibi Alemika, Professor of Criminology, University of Jos, Nigeria

Professor Jallal Toufiq, Head of the National Centre for Drug Abuse Prevention and Research in Morocco; and the Director of the Moroccan National Observatory on Drugs and Addictions

Joyce Kimani, Observatory Coordinator for East and Horn of Africa at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

John Collins, Director of Academic Engagement at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime and host of the Crime Beyond Borders podcast

Relevant Reading

At the end of November 2021, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime alongside the International Institute for Strategic Studies released the Africa Organized Crime Index 2021 – which provides a picture of criminality and resilience of every country in Africa. The aim is to guide African policymaking and to stimulate debate on one of the greatest threats to the security and development of the continent – organized crime.

Lindy sits down with Laura Adal (GITOC) and Martin Ewi (ISS) to discuss this collaborative work.

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Speakers:

Martin Ewi, Institute for Security Studies

Laura Adal, Senior Analyst, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Additional Links:

(Paper) How has organised crime in Africa changed since 2019?

(Index Website) ENACT Organised Crime Index (Africa 2021)

(Global Index Website) Global Organized Crime Index

The Cheetah – the fastest land animal in the world. This big cat once ranged across most of Africa and into Asia – today there are thought to be only 7,000 still living in the wild. The Cheetah is a protected species and is endangered, but there are a few countries that allow their legal export. But irregularities within the trade system means that abuse is significant – cheetah being taken from the wild and essentially laundered through legal captive breeding facilities.

This podcast is based on the report Live cheetahs.

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Speaker:

Patricia Tricorache - Wildlife Trafficking Research Associate at Colorado State University

Reading:

Live Cheetahs, Black Market Brief

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

"Joining Kuluna gangs is an expression of anger, injustice and frustration - to enact revenge on society"

Kinshasa, a megacity in Central Africa and the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The majority of the 12-million city population are under 25, but rapid urbanisation, a lack of employment opportunities, violence and poverty has seen many of these young people joining street gangs known as Kulunas.

In this episode we look at who the Kuluna are; what role they play in their communities and society; the vulnerability of women; the specific Kuluna culture that has developed; the violence that is at the heart of their operations; and their relationship to politics and law enforcement.

This podcast is based on the paper Criminals or Vigilantes? Kuluna Gangs of the Democratic Republic of Congo by Thierry Vircoulon and Marc-André Lagrange.

Presenter

Lindy Mtongana

Speakers

Thierry Vircoulon, Coordinator of the Observatory for Central and Southern Africa, and the French Institute for International Affairs

Marc-André Lagrange, Senior researcher on conflict, humanitarian and security issues in central Africa

Rigobert Minani, Head of the Research and Socio-Political Department, Centre d’Etudes pour l’Action Sociale

Rose Mutshanga, President of SYEFES, the synergy of women from civil society in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

For decades the illegal firearms market in the Southern African counties was driven by regional conflicts, many of those firearms likely ended up in the hands of criminal groups. But today, we are seeing a much more worrying trend - newer weapons entering the market, some through cross-border trafficking, but more are being sourced domestically. And according to a new research paper from the GI, in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa, a significant number of those firearms are coming from state actors.

Guest: Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane, Senior Analyst, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Paper: How to Silence the Guns: Southern Africa’s illegal firearms markets

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

(Book) Give Us More Guns, Mark Shaw

For other podcasts, videos and research about organized crime head over to the website.

This is a story of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, complex corporate structures, human trafficking, arms smuggling, corruption and the capture of state institutions.

In this collaborative episode with Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime, we travel to the rich fishing grounds off Puntland in Somalia and a fleet of vessels known as the "Somali 7", before looking into a politically connected company that has an uncanny ability to operate either outside or just on the fringes of the law.

This podcast is based on the report Fishy Business: Illegal Fishing in Somalia and the capture of state institutions.

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Speakers:

Jay Bahadur, Researcher and Investigator at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

Dr. Katharine Petrich, visiting assistant professor incoming at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California

Ian Urbina, Investigative Journalist and author of The Outlaw Ocean.

Austin Brush, Senior Analyst at C4ADS

Additional Reading

Jay Bahadur, GITOC - Fishy Business: Illegal Fishing in Somalia and the capture of state institutions

Ian Urbina - The Outlaw Ocean.

On the 20th April 2021, Idriss Déby Itno, the President of Chad for three decades died from wounds he reportedly suffered on the frontline against rebel fighters. His death could leave a power vacuum in a region that is already rife with instability, fuelling more uncertainty, violence, geopolitical posturing, and criminal opportunity in the Sahel.

Chad is a major hub for trafficking activities including drugs, people, gold and vehicles. The porous borders at the extremities contain mercenary groups and bandits, many situated around the vast artisanal gold mines in the north. The death of Déby will reshape the illicit economies not only in Chad, but the entire region.

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Speakers:

Dr Remadji Hoinathy, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, where he covers West Africa, the Sahel, and the Lake Chad Basin

Jerome Tubiana, Independent Researcher, specialising in Chad, Sudan and Libya.

Emad Badi, Senior Analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Alice Fereday, Senior Analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Alexandre Bish, Senior Analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Reading:

Déby’s death will fuel instability and criminal opportunity in the Sahel (GITOC, Alexandre Bish)

After the storm: Organized crime across the Sahel-Sahara following upheaval in Libya and Mali (GITOC)

Democracy in Chad takes a back seat to military might (ISS Africa, Dr Remadji Hoinathy)

Who are Chad’s FACT rebels and what are their goals? (Al Jazeera)

Links:

North Africa and the Sahel Observatory (NAS-Obs)

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Producer: Jack Meegan-Vickers

We would like to introduce the Africa and the Global Illicit Economy audience to a new podcast series that has been launched by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

It's called ‘Too Many Enemies’ – and the series looks at the assassination crisis in South Africa through the lens of a very specific case.

In a brilliant bit of storytelling, this podcast is presented by Paul McNally and produced for the GI by Volume.

It is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, News24, or wherever you get your podcasts. For six weeks a new episode will be released every Thursday.

Enjoy!

Reading

The Rule of the Gun: Hits and assassinations in South Africa, 2000-2017

Assassination Witness Project

On March 24th 2021, Islamist insurgents carried out an attack on the coastal town of Palma in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado. The days of fighting, looting, massacres, private military contractors, and dramatic rescues led to thousands more people fleeing to escape the violence.

The attack took place just a few kilometres from Total’s $20 billion-dollar natural gas project on the Afungi peninsula and in the same province as the huge ruby fields of Montepuez.

Last year the Global Initiative asked how this ongoing insurgency is impacting the illicit flows that travel through the region – after the attack at Palma, we have decided to revisit this subject.

This is a collaborative episode between Africa and the Global Illicit Economy and Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime.

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Speakers:

Prof. Adriano Nuvunga – Director of the CDD Mozambique

Zenaida Machado – Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch

Alastair Nelson – Senior Fellow, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Johann Smith – Independent Security Analyst in Mozambique

Colonel Lionel Dyck – CEO of the of Dyck Advisory Group (DAG)

Reading:

Observatory of Illicit Economies in Eastern and Southern Africa – Risk Bulletin Issue. 17

A Triangle of Vulnerability: Changing patterns of illicit trafficking off the Swahili coast

Podcast: Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime – Insurgency and illicit trade in Northern Mozambique

'Criminals and Terrorists': Framing Mozambique's Insurgency - OCCRP

Hundreds Missing After Mozambique Attack: Government Should Provide More Information About Situation in Palma

Amnesty International: Mozambique: Civilians killed as war crimes committed by armed group, government forces, and private military contractors.

Producer: Jack Meegan-Vickers

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime