Mozambique strengthens surveillance of sectors vulnerable to whitening

Moçambique aims to strengthen the supervision of non-financial sectors vulnerable to money laundering, such as real estate, casinos and car trade, to avoid returning to the grey list of the Financial Action Group (FAFI), was announced today.

The measure was announced by the Mozambique Financial Information Office (GIFiM), during the opening of a regional workshop on risk-based supervision of designated non-financial activities and professions, which takes place over a week in Maputo, with the participation of representatives and supervisors from southern and eastern African countries and support from specialists from the FATF and the World Bank.

On that occasion, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Albertina Fruquia, said that strengthening supervision is necessary because, as banking systems consolidate defense mechanisms, criminal networks seek to exploit vulnerabilities in other sectors of the economy.

“Sectors such as real estate, casinos, the commerce of precious stones and metals, legal services of lawyers, auditors and accountants become, therefore, front lines of our defense strategy,” he explained.

The meeting aims to empower regulators and supervisors to identify sectors, services, products, customers and entities at higher risk, focusing on them supervisory resources and replacing random approaches with risk-based supervision.

According to GIFIM's Director of Central Studies and Cooperation Services, Alberto Cangela Júnior, representatives from 22 countries of the region participate in the workshop.

The designated non-financial activities and professions include casinos, real estate agents, lawyers, auditors, accountants and vehicle purchase and sale operators, sectors considered vulnerable to use for money laundering and terrorist financing.

“ Before, supervision was done randomly; now there is a need to make a risk assessment and identify the entities that represent high risk,” said Cangela Júnior, adding that training includes theoretical and practical components and will allow the sharing of experiences between participating countries.

In Mozambique, GIFIM already supervises the real estate and the purchase and resale of vehicles for the purpose of preventing and combating money laundering because they do not have a sector supervisor in this area.

Alberto Cangela Júnior stated that the country seeks to consolidate the progress made after leaving the GAFI grey list in October 2025, after three years under enhanced monitoring.

Mozambique will again be evaluated in 2030, in a process beginning in 2028: “Until then we have to have all the mechanisms in place, so that the evaluation in 2030 may occur with a degree of compliance of the country and we do not run the risk of returning to the grey list,” he said.

He added that the Bar Association, as a supervisor of the sector, should strengthen its capacity to understand the risks associated with legal services and identify activities with greater exposure to money laundering.

In a report released in October, GIFIM warned of weaknesses in the control of the real estate sector, including failures in reporting suspicious transactions and limitations in the linkage between entities.

Of the 851 real estate entities identified as active in 2025, only 234 were registered with the body.

The report also identified suspected implementation of funds of illegal origin in the real estate sector worth 5,006 million meticals (EUR 78.2 million) between January 2021 and November 2025.

GIFIM recommended increased transaction monitoring, enhanced risk-based supervision and better information sharing between authorities.