Institute for Peace and Security Studies

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Browsing Institute for Peace and Security Studies by Subject "anti-money laundering measures"

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    Money Laundering and Its Countermeasures in Ethiopia
    (Addis Ababa Unversity, 2022-05) Messay Asgedom; Kenneth Omeje(Professor); Daniel G. Kebede (Ph.D.)
    Despite the multi-faceted challenges posed by money laundering to Ethiopia’s economy and security, money laundering and its countermeasures in the country are under-researched and under-explored. Thus, this study is conducted to examine how and why money laundering and its countermeasures operate in Ethiopia. It was carried out using a qualitative case study. Both primary and secondary data were collected, through in-depth interviews and document reviews. This dissertation finds that (i) the notion of money laundering incorporated in Ethiopia’s anti-money laundering regime does not grasp the whole spectrum and purpose of money laundering, and does not reflect the context in which the illicit business operates, (ii) the laundering strategies employed by criminals are highly dynamic, symbiotic, indistinct, and tailored to a country’s distinctive political economy, (iii) the political economy of Ethiopia is providing an appealing environment to the rife of money laundering and associated criminal activities, (iv) in countries like Ethiopia, foreign currency governance has a significant contribution to the emergence of financial crimes such as illicit financial flows, black market exchange, and money laundering, and (v) unlike other organized criminal groups money launderers primarily utilize the existing formal state structure, and exists as far as the formal state structure exists. Furthermore, this study discovers that although Ethiopia's anti-money laundering system (both normative frameworks and institutional operation) is a verbatim copy of international anti-money laundering standards, it is inadequate and ineffective. Finally, this study contributes to the theoretical understanding of money laundering by (i) explaining the role of political economy in the growth of money laundering, and (ii) establishing a linkage between sources of illicit proceeds, laundering strategies, risk factors, and anti-money laundering measures. This study also contributes to the theoretical understanding of anti-money laundering measures by examining the adequacy/sufficiency of domestic and international anti money laundering standards for the prevention and suppression of money laundering in emerging and cash-intensive economies.