Online Reporter
Tapiwanashe Mangwiro
ZIMBABWE’S financial intelligence architecture is set for one of its most consequential tests: a fresh assessment of its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime, which will scrutinise not just what laws are on the books, but whether these pieces of legislation are actually working.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail Business, Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) director-general Mr Oliver Chiperesa painted a candid picture of where Zimbabwe stands: a country with solid legal foundations, a growing collaborative framework and an honest acknowledgement that results on the ground still need to catch up with institutional ambition.
Zimbabwe is preparing for a mutual evaluation under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) framework, the global standard setter for combating money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing.
The process, which kicks off this year, carries enormous weight. A poor rating can isolate a country from the international financial system. A strong one signals credibility and openness to global capital flows.
The last time Zimbabwe was assessed was in 2015. Deficiencies were identified then, and Mr Chiperesa says most of those gaps have since been closed, but the goalposts have moved.
“The bar has been set higher this time around, where the assessors will come and check the effectiveness with which we are implementing anti-money laundering measures,” he told this publication.
That single word — effectiveness — is the defining feature of this new evaluation cycle. Earlier assessments largely focused on technical compliance: Does the law exist? Does the institution exist?
Today’s FATF methodology demands something harder to fake: proof that the framework actually produces outcomes — prosecutions, convictions, asset recoveries and measurable reductions in financial crime activity.
To understand why this assessment matters, one must appreciate the philosophy behind FATF’s global reach.
Financial systems are deeply interconnected and a vulnerability in one country can be exploited to launder criminal proceeds or channel terrorism funding across multiple jurisdictions.
Mr Chiperesa explained: “These standards have been put in place to make sure that weaknesses in one country do not corrupt the rest of the global financial system.”
Technology and ease of movement have amplified this risk dramatically; cross-border transactions that once took days are now cleared in seconds.
The speed with which both people and money move means that criminals can shift illicit funds across multiple countries before any single authority has time to respond.
The FATF framework is designed to close exactly those windows.
Zimbabwe’s membership in the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) — a regional body that feeds into FATF — is a direct response to this reality. According to Mr Chiperesa, membership in these bodies ensures that countries and financial intelligence units can coordinate and exchange information rapidly, denying criminals the jurisdictional gaps they depend on.
“Whenever they commit a crime in one country and channel proceeds into another country, we have now built a global and regional network that will make it much easier to investigate those cases, bring the perpetrators to book and also to identify the assets and ensure they are confiscated,” he said.
Ahead of the assessment, the FIU has been engaged in what Mr Chiperesa described as intensive stakeholder coordination, particularly with law-enforcement agencies.
The focus is on translating legal capability into courtroom results: more prosecutions for money laundering, more assets seized and more financial criminals held accountable.
“Our challenge now going forward is to use that framework, put that framework to good use, to actually produce more and more results in terms of the number of cases that go through the courts in terms of money laundering, as well as the assets that are recovered,” he said.
This push is underpinned by a structured national vision: the Anti-Money Laundering National Strategy 2025-2030, a five-year blueprint that sets specific milestones for different stakeholders across the financial crime-fighting ecosystem.
The strategy represents a deliberate shift from institution-building to impact measurement — a recognition that Zimbabwe must now demonstrate tangible progress, not just regulatory infrastructure.
“We have been effective to a large extent, but we are not satisfied with the level of effectiveness that we have reached at this stage,” he said.
“We are at a stage where our anti-money laundering regime is still developing.”
Mr Chiperesa acknowledged that while some successes had been recorded, cases prosecuted and assets seized, the country has not yet reached the level of systemic impact it is aiming to achieve.
Illicit financial flows remain a drag on national development, effectively diverting resources that should be fuelling infrastructure, healthcare and economic growth.
“We haven’t yet reached the highest level of effectiveness that we would want to see if our country is to move forward in terms of arresting illicit financial flows and ensuring that resources are rechannelled to development,” Mr Chiperesa said.
The upcoming FATF evaluation for Zimbabwe is more than a compliance exercise.
It is a statement of intent to the international community, a demonstration that the country is a responsible participant in the global financial system, not a conduit for illicit money.
