Tracing the money, not just the horn
Keletso Thobega | Monday June 23, 2025 10:00
A substantial portion of these funds is allegedly linked to organised wildlife trafficking, particularly rhino horn smuggling.
Experts warn that this financial haemorrhaging is not only undermining Botswana’s ability to protect its wildlife but is also crippling the country’s capacity to finance essential public services.
The financial aspect of the illegal wildlife trade is often overlooked, despite its importance. However, these crimes have far-reaching negative consequences for communities.
“These are not just environmental crimes. They are economic crimes that strike at the core of Botswana’s sovereignty and development,” said Dr. Balazs Horvath, UNDP Resident Representative in Botswana, when speaking at the launch of the revised National Anti-Poaching Strategy in collaboration with Botswana government earlier this year. “Every rhino poached represents a failure to protect public money, schools, hospitals, and jobs,” he added.
Botswana’s black rhino population has plunged from more than 2,000 to just 500 today. Of those, only six are critically endangered black rhinos, making Botswana a high-priority region for criminal syndicates supplying the lucrative black-market demand for rhino horn in Asia, where it is used in traditional medicine and as luxury status symbols.
Tracking illicit financial flows linked to rhino poaching in Botswana is challenging due to the secretive nature of transnational crime networks, the use of shell companies and ghost accounts, and the limited transparency in financial reporting systems.
The United Nations office on Drugs and Crime’s 2024 World Wildlife Crime Report outlines the sophisticated supply chain that supports this underground economy: from local poachers to brokers, intermediaries, exporters, and then to wholesalers and retailers in overseas markets. In this chain, money moves just as covertly as horn through shell companies, ghost bank accounts, crypto wallets, and offshore havens.
Syndicates often register companies using the names of locals to comply with “Know Your Customer” (KYC) protocols, a legal requirement in many jurisdictions designed to prevent money laundering. These companies do not operate genuine businesses and exist solely to facilitate illicit transactions, often in collusion with corrupt officials or compromised banking systems.
“Wildlife crime is highly organised, financially motivated, and transnational,” said Thapelo Baithepi, chief warden at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary.
“It’s no longer just a conservation problem. It’s a financial and governance issue.”
For villagers in Mabeleapodi, the collapse of eco-tourism has had devastating effects. The Khama Rhino Sanctuary once attracted local and international tourists, supporting dozens of jobs in hospitality, guiding, conservation education, and craft making. That revenue has dried up.
“Tourism was a lifeline,” said village chief Sebonego Tebelelo. “Now, we’re seeing rising poverty and unemployment, less food security, and more young people leaving.”
While poaching syndicates recruit men with promises of quick cash, women and children bear the economic brunt.
Former lodge workers, cooks, and community educators most of them women now scramble for survival, with some relying on informal work and food aid. “We’ve lost not just animals but trust and opportunity,” said Tebelelo. “When syndicates destroy wildlife, they destroy the village.”
According to a 2023 Good Governance Africa (GGA) article, at least one-third of Africa’s IFFs are linked to wildlife crime. These flows undermine domestic resource mobilisation (DRM)a country’s ability to raise and manage its own revenueby facilitating tax evasion, weakening institutions, and eroding regulatory systems. The government has attempted to respond to the crisis. The newly revised National Anti-Poaching Strategy (2025–2030) links wildlife protection to financial governance, border control, regional cooperation, and community engagement.
“This strategy acknowledges the trans boundary nature of wildlife crime and aligns with regional efforts to stop environmental crimes that rob us of our wealth,” said Moeti Mohwasa, Minister for State President.
Border patrols have been intensified using satellite surveillance and aerial monitoring, particularly along corridors shared with Namibia and South Africa. Yet, traffickers continue to exploit governance gaps, weak customs systems, and insider collusion.
“Syndicates know how to exploit every loophole,” said Duncan Boikhutso, a tour guide. “They bribe border agents, use decoy vehicles, and move cash digitally in ways we can’t trace.”
Wildlife crime syndicates often engage in corruption, money laundering, fraud, and other serious offences. According to the GGA article, these networks use local fixers to source the horn, intermediaries to transport goods, and a pipeline of complicit officials in source, transit, and destination countries.
They also rely on IFFs to bribe law enforcement, pay poachers, and clean up profits. This convergence of crimes highlights the complexity of wildlife crime, which is not merely a conservation issue but also undermines the rule of law and economic stability. Internationally, wildlife crime is now one of the most profitable black-market industries, rivalling drugs, arms, and human trafficking. Without stringent oversight of banking systems, corporate registrations, and cross-border transactions, Botswana remains vulnerable to these global criminal webs, the article also states.
Experts argue that the real loss is not merely rhinos it is Botswana’s capacity to determine its economic future. Illicit Financial Flows drain tax revenue, weaken public institutions, and worsen inequality by depriving the nation of resources for health, education, and infrastructure.
“Illicit wildlife trafficking represents a direct threat to domestic resource mobilisation,” said Horvath. “Every rhino horn smuggled out is not just a loss to conservation it’s a loss to fiscal sovereignty.”
For Mabeleapodi, which is nearest to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, the effects are immediate and profound. One might expect the area to be bustling and vibrant due to its close proximity to the only rhino sanctuary and conservation hub in Botswana, but that is not the case. Abject poverty is evident all around.
The village appears dusty and ghostly against the backdrop of hills and rolling brown fields. It is challenging to even find a shop in the area, and villagers travel 40 kilometres to Serowe for groceries or refreshments. The traditional kgotla is partly dilapidated, and the village lacks a community hall. There is only one primary school and no secondary school. The local clinic is understaffed and lacking in medication to such an extent that one would be fortunate to receive even a painkiller there.
The dreams of establishing a women-led eco-tourism cooperative as a means of empowerment for the predominantly female community have been put on hold indefinitely due to a lack of funding for the project. Unemployment remains high, and most youths spend their days idling as they lack the means to earn a substantial income.
Perhaps, the worst part is that the community cannot capitalise on the pristine flora and fauna in the village and its surroundings. He also reiterated, “if our natural heritage keeps vanishing, so will our future, so government should trace the money, not just the horn.
*Keletso Thobega is a development journalist, data consultant and African Union (AU) Media Fellow. “This project received support from the Thomson Reuters Foundation as part of its global work aiming to strengthen free, fair and informed societies. Any financial assistance or support provided to the journalist has no editorial influence. The content of this article belongs solely to the author and is not endorsed by or associated with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Thomson Reuters, Reuters, nor any other affiliates.”
In the small village of Mabeleapodi, what could be a modest yet reliable livelihood based on eco-tourism has been crippled by a quiet economic war. Syndicates involved in rhino poaching are not only killing endangered animals, they are draining Botswana of critical development funds through illicit financial flows (IFFs), writes journalist KELETSO THOBEGA