Libya tops Africa's financial crime rankings with a 9.00 score, as the ENACT Organized Crime Index 2025 places five North African nations among the continent's top seven hotspots for illicit finance.

The index, which measures the scale of financial crimes across the continent, assigns scores of 8.00 to Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tunisia. Morocco, Burundi, and Liberia follow with scores of 7.50. North Africa dominates the upper ranks, with Libya leading not only Africa but also securing the top position globally.

Libya's position reflects a corruption crisis that has drawn international attention. Transparency International ranked the country 177th out of 182 states in its 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index.

In November 2025, Turkish authorities dismantled an unlicensed financial network accused of laundering more than one billion dollars, with extensive connections to Libya. Istanbul Police estimated the value of illicit transactions at 50 billion Turkish lira—approximately $1.2 billion—with investigators linking one company at the centre of the network, Laleli Altin Ticaret, to more than $155 million in incoming funds tied to Libyan affiliates.

“These three fraudsters were calculating and opportunistic in committing offences that left the people of Libya out of pocket by approximately £11.4 million for purely selfish and greedy purposes to fund their lavish lifestyles,” said Andrew West, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, after a London court convicted three fund managers in December 2025 for defrauding Libya's sovereign wealth fund.

Frederic Marino, a former JPMorgan Chase banker, received a seven-and-a-half-year sentence, while Yoshiki Ohmura, a former Julius Baer banker, was sentenced to three and a half years.

Nigeria, the highest-ranked West African nation with a score of 8.00, has seen its Economic and Financial Crimes Commission intensify enforcement. On December 30, 2025, the EFCC arraigned Abubakar Malami, the former Attorney-General of the Federation, alongside his wife and son on a 16-count charge alleging money laundering involving N8.7 billion between 2022 and 2025. On the same day, the Commission arraigned Bauchi State's Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, over an alleged N5.7 billion money laundering scheme linked to a failed motorcycle supply contract. Justice Emeka Nwite remanded Adamu in EFCC custody and adjourned the matter to January 2, 2026.

Kenya, ranked fourth in overall organised crime in Africa with a criminality score of 7.18, recorded a significant escalation in financial enforcement.

The Financial Reporting Centre, the country's financial intelligence unit, reported that suspicious transaction reports surged 18.8 percent to 9,571 in 2025, helping authorities unearth illicit wealth worth $120.91 million (Sh15.65 billion).

Bomet County Governor, Hillary Barchok was arraigned before the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court in September 2025 on multiple charges including money laundering and acquisition of proceeds of crime.

Algeria, scoring 8.00, has also faced mounting scrutiny. In August 2025, authorities in Mostaganem dismantled a money-laundering network, seizing 1.23 billion Algerian dinars, along with euros, dollars, and other foreign currencies—totalling more than 1.5 billion dinars.

The investigation began on August 12, 2025, after security forces intercepted a vehicle carrying cash in suitcases and bags. Despite these operations, Algeria remains on the FATF grey list and ranked 133rd globally in Transparency International's 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Tunisia, also at 8.00, recorded a sharp rise in suspicious financial activity. The Tunisian Financial Analysis Commission reported that declarations of suspicious operations nearly tripled from 446 in 2020 to 1,334 in 2025. Money laundering now constitutes at least 96 percent of all alerts, with tax offences (28 percent), migrant smuggling (27 percent), and fraud (9 percent) as the most common underlying crimes.

In March 2025, authorities seized about 12 million dinars ($3.8 million) from accounts linked to ride-hailing apps and suspended their operations.

Morocco, with a score of 7.50, reported that its National Security Directorate processed 633 money-laundering cases in 2025 and seized criminal proceeds worth 660 million dirhams. Authorities also recorded 431 financial corruption cases, a 10 percent decline from the previous year.

Egypt, scoring 8.00, launched a crackdown on social media influencers in August 2025, detaining dozens of TikTokkers on charges including money laundering. One 19-year-old with 9.4 million followers, Mariam Ayman, was jailed on August 2, 2025, facing charges of laundering 15 million pounds ($300,000).

The ENACT report noted that financial crimes are the fastest-growing criminal market across Africa, enabled by state-embedded actors in 48 percent of severely affected markets. “State‑embedded actors are the most prevalent type of criminal actor across the continent,” the report stated. Libya's Central Bank Governor Naji Issa, after meetings with US officials in Washington, pledged to strengthen anti-money laundering systems, with a US State Department official praising the bank's efforts as “a model to be emulated in financial management despite compelling circumstances.”