Africa and the Global Illicit Economy

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Africa and the Global Illicit Economy brings you stories and investigations based on the extensive research networks at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. We'll be looking at corruption, illicit financial flows, gangs, the role of foreign corporations, the political economy of crime, and the enabling environment that has made Africa vulnerable to the growth of organized crime. Drawing on the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime's civil society observatories for North, South, East and West Africa to get a feel for how organized crime is impacting some of the world and the continent’s emergency trends and contemporary events.

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Top 10 Africa and the Global Illicit Economy Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Africa and the Global Illicit Economy episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Africa and the Global Illicit Economy for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Africa and the Global Illicit Economy episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Kenya Elections and Gangs

Africa and the Global Illicit Economy

08/15/22 • 16 min

Millions of Kenyans have cast their votes in the countries 12th General Election, labelled the most competitive election in the history of Kenya.

But as Kenya’s history has shown - the more fierce the political contest, the higher the risk of election-related violence, often carried out by gangs and militias at the behest of politicians, with the aim of influencing the outcome of an election.

In this episode Lindy will explore the role organised criminal gangs play in determining political outcomes.

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Guests:

Ken Opala, Field Network Coordinator for East and Southern Africa, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

Gregory Ochieng Onyango - a Kenyan activist and an artist.

Esther Njeri Kimani is the CEO of Art4Rights Kenya - a community based organisation in Nakuru that uses art to advocate for human rights.

Additional Links:

Resilience Dialogue - Safeguarding Kenyan elections from criminal interference is urgent

(Paper) The Politics of Crime: Kenya's gang phenomenon

GI-TOC Resilience Fund

The Global Organized Crime Index - Kenya Profile

Global Assassination Monitor

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

TRAILER: Underworlds with Mark Shaw - Underworlds with Mark Shaw

Africa and the Global Illicit Economy

09/16/24 • 2 min

Welcome to Underworlds with Mark Shaw.

Organized Crime is everywhere, hidden in plain sight. The stories from this world have been mythologised by Hollywood. But the reality can be even stranger and more exciting than fiction.

From the golden age of the American mafia (La Cosa Nostra), to the modern-day cocaine empires, and from the shadowy links between organized crime and terrorism, to the twilight of the Yakuza.

In this series Mark Shaw, the Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime delves into non-fiction books about organized crime and the illicit economy with the authors themselves. He asks questions about their background and investigations, but also the challenges associated in writing about this murky world.

Arms Trafficking, Kidnappings and Donkey Skins

Africa and the Global Illicit Economy

08/18/20 • 24 min

In this week’s episode of Africa and the Global Illicit Economy, we take a look at current trends in organised crime in East and Southern Africa --- From the illicit smuggling of arms and ammunition from Yemen to Somalia; the worrying rise of high-profile kidnappings in Mozambique; and the possible emergence of an organised illicit trade in donkey skins from Kenya.

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Speakers

Estacio Valoi - Investigative journalist based in Mozambique.

Samantha Opere - Samantha Opere is a Veterinary Surgeon and Project Manager at Kenya Network for Dissemination of Agricultural Technologies.

Jay Bahadur - author of The Pirates of Somalia and guest editor of the Global Initiative's East and Southern Africa Risk Bulletin.

ESAOBS Risk Bulletin

Producer: Alexandria Sahai-Williams

Emerging Illicit Industries in the Wake of COVID-19

Africa and the Global Illicit Economy

07/22/20 • 33 min

This episode examines how bans and increased regulation in above ground industries under the stated intent of “stopping the spread of COVID-19” have led to new forms of illicit trade in Eastern and Southern Africa.

In Somalia donations of personal and ventilators have been misappropriated for profit and a ban on Khat threatens to destabilize the lives of growers and sellers in Kenya.

In South Africa a ban on tobacco is exposing the tobacco industries participation in the black market.

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Guests

Abdulaziz Billow Ali - Journalist/TV Correspondent CGTN Africa

Telita Snyckers - Illicit Trade Expert, former tax lawyer for the South African Revenue Services (SARS)

Dalle Abraham - Dalle Abraham is a writer based in Marsabit, Kenya.

Jay Bahadur - Journalist and author

Documents

Risk Bulletin #9

Global Initiative

Producer: Alexandria Sahai Williams

Security Sector Reform and Organized Crime in Libya

Africa and the Global Illicit Economy

10/30/20 • 24 min

This week, we’re in Libya where we’ll dive into the challenges of conducting security sector reform in an environment where organized crime is embedded into formal and informal power structures.

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Speakers:

Jalel Harchaoui, Research Fellow at the Clingendaely Institute in the Netherlands.

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

Reading

ISS Today: Reform of Libya’s security sector must not fail again.

POLICY BRIEF: Less than the sum of its parts Europe’s fixation with Libyan border security, Matt Herbert

Clingendael REPORT, Security Sector Stabilisation and Development in Libya

Shifting dynamics: Migration Trends Across the Mediterranean

Africa and the Global Illicit Economy

12/23/20 • 31 min

Since the 2015 migrant crisis, restrictive measures, tougher policy interventions, and heightened securitization have become the hallmarks of border controls along the Mediterranean. Although it appears that these policy measures have had the desired effect, GI research reveals shifting dynamics and an interplay of cause and effect. In this episode, we investigate these dynamics and discuss them in the context of migrant pushbacks.

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Speakers:

Ali Zoubeidi, PhD in Public Law and Specialist in the Smuggling of Migrants in Morocco

Arezo Malakooti, Senior Fellow, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Katharina Natter, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Political Science of Leiden University.

Producer: Alexandria Sahai-Williams

Reading

Migration Trends Across the Mediterranean: Piecing Together the Shifting Dynamics

For other podcasts from the GI click here.

Violence in Nelson Mandela Bay, Ernie Solomon’s Assassination and Illicit Mining in Zimbabwe

Africa and the Global Illicit Economy

01/22/21 • 31 min

The end of 2020 gave way to monumental shifts in the landscape of illicit crime in Southern Africa. This week we discuss how violence in Nelson Mandela Bay, illicit gold mining in Zimbabwe, and the assassination of gangster Ernie Solomon are setting the stage for illicit crime in Southern Africa for the coming year.

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Speakers:

Rukshana Parker, Analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

Marcena Hunter, Senior Analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Mandy Wiener, Journalist, Broadcaster and Author

Producer: Alexandria Sahai-Williams

Reading

Civil Society Observatory of Illicit Economies in Eastern and Southern Africa

Risk Bulletin - Issue 14

Hit on a hitman – how the Ernest Solomon murder may affect two ‘unsolved’ underworld killings

Zimbabwe: Losing millions from illicit gold mining trade

For other podcasts from the GI click here.

Meth and Guns in South Africa, and Crime at Nairobi’s Dandora Dumpsite

Africa and the Global Illicit Economy

02/22/21 • 31 min

In South Africa, methamphetamine usage and the networks that support them are at all all-time high. And the assassination of a South African police detective highlights the channels by which illegal weapons and firearm licenses are sold to criminals.

And, new research from the Global Initiative reveals a tight-knit relationship between criminals and corrupt figures in Nairobi’s only dumpsite.

Presenter: Lindy Mtongana

Speakers:

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

Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane, Researcher, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Brian ‘Alaman’ James Omondi, Administrator of the Dandora Community Justice Center and head of their Life and Dignity Campaign.

Producer: Alexandria Sahai-Williams

Reading

Civil Society Observatory of Illicit Economies in Eastern and Southern Africa

Risk Bulletin - Issue 15

Gun licenses for sale - South Africa's failing firearms control

For other podcasts from the GI click here.

Abalone: The Trafficked South African Sea Snail

Africa and the Global Illicit Economy

03/17/22 • 24 min

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.

African Drug Markets and Alternative Development

Africa and the Global Illicit Economy

01/26/22 • 40 min

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

A Synthetic Age: The Evolution of Methamphetamine Markets in Eastern and Southern Africa