Three SADC States Removed from FATF Greylist as Regional Polycrisis Threatens Gains

HARARE – The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has recorded a significant milestone in its fight against financial crime, with three member states removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) greylist since June 2025, even as a deepening polycrisis threatens to undermine regional macroeconomic stability.

Deputy Executive Secretary for Regional Integration, Angele Makombo N’Tumba, confirmed the development during the opening of the SADC Committee of Ministers of Finance and Investment and Peer Review Panel meeting in Harare on Monday.

South Africa, Mozambique, and Namibia have all been removed from the global watchdog’s list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, a move that Ms. N’Tumba described as testament to the "sustained efforts" by member states to strengthen regulatory frameworks.

The announcement comes as senior treasury and central bank officials from across the 16-member bloc convene to deliberate on critical financial integration and macroeconomic convergence issues, including the annual performance assessments for Eswatini, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.

SADC’s financial leadership is facing complex policy trade-offs amidst what Ms. N’Tumba described as a "polycrisis" driven by adverse climate conditions, geopolitical developments, and disease outbreaks that are testing the resilience of macroeconomic frameworks across the region.

The impact of this crisis is already evident in volatile commodity prices, exchange rate pressures, supply chain disruptions, and elevated inflation pressures in several member states, even as growth momentum weakens.

Addressing delegates, Ms. N’Tumba highlighted the severe challenge of climate-related shocks, noting that droughts reducing agricultural output and floods destroying critical infrastructure pose "direct threats to fiscal sustainability and employment."

Policymakers have been urged to strike a delicate balance between saving lives and livelihoods, curbing persistent inflationary pressures while stimulating weak economic growth, and maintaining fiscal discipline while meeting urgent population needs.

The official reiterated the region’s commitment to deepening financial integration, noting that advancing the SADC-RTGS multicurrency initiative, linking stock exchanges, and harmonizing bank and non-bank supervision frameworks remain essential priorities for the long-term objective of establishing a monetary union.

The meeting, which is being chaired by South Africa as interim SADC Chair and facilitated by outgoing Chair Zimbabwe, will also focus on operationalising the SADC Regional Development Fund and strengthening project preparation mechanisms to unlock resources for priority infrastructure and development projects.