| ESAAMLG Presidency | ESAAMLG Secretariat | Mission, Vision and Strategic Objectives | History of the ESAAMLG |
| What do we do | Who We Are | Cooperative Partners and Observers | Organization Structure |
The Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) is a Regional Body subscribing to global standards to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism and proliferation. Its 21 Member Countries are Angola, Botswana, Burundi,Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa,South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe and includes a number of regional and international observers such as Commonwealth Secretariat, East African Community, FATF, IMF, SADC, United Kingdom, United States of America, UNODC,World Bank and World Customs Organization. The United Kingdom and United States of America have been cooperating and supporting nations of the organization since it was established in 1999.
The main objectives of ESAAMLG are to:
Implement any other measures contained in the multilateral agreements and initiatives relevant to prevention and control of laundering of proceeds of all serious crimes and the financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The Council of Ministers is the key decision-making body of the ESAAMLG and consists of at least one ministerial representative from each member country. The Council is ultimately responsible for setting the strategic direction of the Group, including approving work programmes. It is headed by a President who holds office for a period of one year. The Presidency of the Council rotates among the member countries, currently on the basis of alphabetical order.
The Task Force consists of senior government officials from legal, financial and law enforcement agencies in the ESAAMLG region responsible for AML/CFT matters. It is headed by a Chairman, who is drawn from the country holding the presidency. The Task Force of Senior Officials meets twice a year (March/April and August/September). The meetings provide an opportunity for delegates to discuss a number of issues relevant to the FATF Standards, mutual evaluation reports, typology studies’ reports, technical assistance and training, progress reports as well as attending special technical workshops/seminars on emerging money laundering and terrorist and proliferation financing trends.
The Task Force is responsible for all technical matters and makes recommendations to the Council for approval. Currently, the Task Force has established Working Groups including the Evaluation and Compliance Group,the Risk, Trends and Methods Group, Working Group on Risk,Compliance and Financial Inclusion, Technical Assistance and Training Coordination Forum, the FIU Forum and the Budget, Finance and Audit
Committee which handle various assignments on behalf of the Task Force.
ESAAMLG has also Steering Commmittee which is an advisory committee on a variety of policy matters.It is chaired by the chairperson of the Task Force.