The government is battling rising panic after an explosive national risk report confirmed fears first exposed by the Sunday Standard that some Botswana community trusts have become unwitting vehicles for international wildlife crime syndicates linked to money laundering and fraud.
A copy of the Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing National Risk Assessment Report Botswana seen by Sunday Standard paints a picture of how criminal networks are infiltrating Botswana’s prized wildlife economy through community-based organisations created to empower rural citizens.
The report directly makes reference to a Sunday Standard investigation report titled ‘Community Trusts in Global Mafia Network’ which was published in 2024. The Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing National Risk Assessment report cites Sunday Standard investigations and details how local communities are being used as ‘grey nodes’ or legal players unknowingly participating in illegal wildlife schemes.
‘It is through this programme that potential investors and partners invest financially with the organisations. Mostly these investors are safari hunting companies,’ the report states.
But it warns that the citizen empowerment model is now vulnerable to abuse.
‘Often, this citizen economic empowerment initiative is abused by investors,’ the report says.
The report shows that the findings will deepen concern within government which now fears that trusts established under the Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme may have become soft targets for foreign syndicates seeking legal access to wildlife quotas, hunting concessions and community resources.
The report says a community trust entered into an agreement with ‘a notorious rhino poaching syndicate and an international trafficker,’ raising fears of criminal infiltration.
It further states that one syndicate member, who allegedly entered Botswana in 2017, is facing more than 1,000 counts of racketeering, money laundering, fraud, intimidation and illegal hunting in foreign jurisdictions.
‘This presents a high risk to money laundering activities in the wildlife sector in Botswana,’ the report warns.
The report states that although the suspect has not been charged in Botswana, authorities believe he has used a Botswana-registered company through suspected fronting arrangements to gain access to community wildlife resources.
The reports suggests that revelations strike at the heart of Botswana’s conservation and tourism economy.
It says Botswana hosts one of Africa’s largest elephant populations which is estimated at over 130,000, nearly one-third of the continent’s total. Wildlife tourism remains a major economic pillar, contributing around 5 percent of GDP in 2023, while pre-Covid levels had reached as high as 13 to 14 percent.
The report indicates that for many rural communities, wildlife-based enterprises such as trophy hunting, photographic safaris and eco-tourism are lifelines.
But the report says environmental crime now threatens not only biodiversity, but governance itself.
‘Environmental crime has potential to fuel organised crime networks involved in the illegal harvesting and trafficking of wildlife resources and this ultimately weakens the rule of law,’ it states.
It also warns that declining wildlife populations destroy jobs and livelihoods for communities dependent on tourism and sustainable hunting revenues.
The report cites global concerns raised by Prince William during the 2022 Global Summit, where he said the illegal wildlife trade worth up to $20 billion annually fuels violent crime, corruption and strips nations of natural resources.