More than $7 million has been illicitly channelled to terrorist groups in Mozambique between 2017 and 2024, according to a Strategic Analysis Report published by the Mozambique Financial Information Bureau (GIFIM).
The report, released on 5 September 2025, exposes the complex financial networks enabling armed groups to recruit fighters and sustain operations across the country.
The analysis details how terrorist financing has relied on a combination of formal banking systems, mobile financial services, and informal transactions.
Techniques include fractional cash deposits and withdrawals, small-value transfers, and the use of “nominees” to conceal beneficial owners, making it difficult for authorities to trace the origin and destination of funds.
“Opening multiple electronic money accounts without justification, frequent withdrawals in high-risk zones, and large monetary flows without an apparent economic cause are key indicators of terrorist financing,” the report states.
GIFIM identified a range of actors involved, including local traders, entrepreneurs, mobile money agents, some public officials, private companies, and even members of non-profit organizations.
Geographically, the provinces most affected include Cabo Delgado – particularly Palma, Mocímboa-da-Praia, and Chiúre – as well as Zambézia, Nampula, Sofala, Manica, and the capital, Maputo. The report also highlights financial links extending to other countries in southern, central, and eastern Africa.
Funding sources include legal businesses such as food trade, fishing, and fuel distribution, alongside illicit activities including drug trafficking, illegal mining, timber smuggling, and arms trade.
Transactions are frequently routed through multiple accounts or mobile money platforms to obscure their trail.
The report comes amid ongoing security concerns in northern Mozambique, where the jihadist group Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama’a (ASWJ), affiliated with the Islamic State, maintains 300 to 400 fighters, about half of whom are forcibly recruited minors.
Led by Tanzanian Suleimane Nguvu since January 2025, the group regularly stages low-intensity attacks in Mocímboa-da-Praia, Muidumbe, Mbau, and Macomia, financing itself through kidnappings and ransom payments via mobile money, generating up to $3,000 per week in some mining areas.
GIFIM recommends bolstering the capacity of financial institutions to detect suspicious activity, strengthening coordination with law enforcement, and raising awareness among the judiciary and the public to secure national and regional financial systems against terrorist exploitation.
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