Friend or Foe?

South Africa must decide if it wants to get off grey list or be friends with Putin

By David Whitehouse

Reserved for subscribers

Posted on April 7, 2023 04:00

© Russia’s President Vladimir Putin smiles with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the first plenary session as part of the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, October 24, 2019. Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin smiles with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the first plenary session as part of the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, October 24, 2019. Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS

South Africa needs to decide if getting off the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list is a bigger priority than friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The country was put on the grey list, a penalty which is imposed for strategic deficiencies in anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, in February. That followed FATF findings in 2021 that South Africa failed in 20 out of 40 standards and had shortcomings in all 11 steps needed to combat money laundering.

There's more to this story

Get unlimited access to our exclusive journalism and features today. Our award-winning team of correspondents and editors report from over 54 African countries, from Cape Town to Cairo, from Abidjan to Abuja to Addis Ababa. Africa. Unlocked.

Subscribe Now

cancel anytime

Already a a subscriber Sign In

More Business

© Tanzania is constructing the Central Corridor Standard Gauge Railway. (photo: twitter)

missing links

Tanzania’s Standard Gauge Railway: Most advanced, but victim of minor private sector investment Tanzania’s standard gauge railway project – that seeks to open up quicker transport corridors towards the vast hinterland of Burundi, DRC, Rwanda, and...

Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, in Paris on 10 November 2021. © Damien Grenon for JA

leverage accelerator

AfDB tackles climate change at annual meeting in Sharm al-Sheikh More than 4,000 people have travelled to Egypt to attend the 58th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and ...

© Eskom technicians perform maintenance in Villiers, South Africa, on May 10, 2023. (Shiraaz MOHAMED / AFP)

Electric shock

South Africa prepares for the worst in load shedding It only took one statement to bring South Africa’s Eskom shares into the red. On Thursday, 18 May, Calib Cassim, acting CEO of the publicly-run nation...

© The International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters building in Washington, U.S., April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

money matters

African Debt: Three proposals to reform the SDR system Hanan Morsy, Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), shares insights on new proposa...