Mozambique's efforts to clear its name and get off the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) Gray List could end in failure, according to the Center for Public Integrity (CIP).

The reason, according to the Civil Society Organization, is that the country is "poorly ranked" in the Basel AML Index, December 2024.

After joining the FATF's Grey List, Mozambique was advised to implement 26 measures to improve its rating. According to official reports, 25 of the 26 recommendations have already been met. All that remains is to present "an updated database of non-profit civil society organizations".

The Basel AML Index 2024 evaluated 203 jurisdictions (164 are in the public edition). Mozambique ranked 12th with a score of 7.15%. In the 2023 index, in its 12th edition, which also assessed 203 jurisdictions (152 were included in the public edition), the country was in 6th position, with a score of 7.88%. In the 11th edition, in 2022, it came 4th with 7.68%, with the same number of jurisdictions assessed as the previous year (128 were in the public edition). A comparative analysis shows that, after the country recorded an increase from 2022 (7,68%) to 2023 (7,88%), in 2024 it fell to 7,15%, which can be explained by the increase in the number of jurisdictions assessed (12 jurisdictions increased in 2024 compared to 2023), as can be seen in the public edition of the three years in question.

Despite the increase in the number of jurisdictions, the CIP believes that Mozambique's ranking in the index should still be a concern for postponing the 'cleansing of the country's name' in the FATF.

Among the countries of the Southern African Development Community, Mozambique is the worst performer, second only to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Basel AML Index for 2024.

Mozambique's data - 12th position - according to the 2024 Basel AML Index, which brings it closer to position 10, "means that [the country] is still quite prone to money laundering and terrorist financing". It will be up to the FATF to dispel possible misconceptions in the assessment of the 2024 Basel AML Index, notes CIP, in the concluding notes of an analysis.