IMF tackles Africa's illicit diamond trade

| Friday March 19, 2010 00:00

'In the last few years, a number of reports have raised concerns about the existence of links between the trade in precious minerals and illicit financial flows, corruption, drug trafficking, arms smuggling and the financing of terrorism,' the IMF reported.

With Africa's gold production estimated at $19 billion a year, and the continents' diamond output valued at around $6 billion, the IMF stressed that an unknown amount is tapped each year for criminal purposes.

The IMF said it will provide a range of technical assistance programmes and seminars targeted at helping countries address institutional weaknesses.

The first stage of the programmes will consist of a five-day workshop this week in Tunis, with representatives from six French-speaking countries participating, including Burundi, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Cote d'Ivoire, and Togo.

Another workshop is scheduled in June for English-speaking countries.

In the second phase of the programmes, participants will set up anti-money laundering programmes and combat financing terrorism (AML/FT) strategies, with support from IMF-backed experts.

Better regulation and oversight of the precious minerals sector will not only help these countries combat illegal activity, but also boost revenues and improve their fiscal situation, said Emmanuel Mathias, an IMF senior financial sector expert involved in the programmes.

Improved regulation will also contribute to increasing the compliance of countries in sub-Saharan Africa with the recommendations of the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the organisation added. (Diamond.net)