Several nations, including Botswana, are pressuring the European Commission to remove them from its controversial blacklist of countries at risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.

The executive's decision on the removal of some countries from its blacklist is expected in October. This ranking means that banks are carrying out stricter due diligence work on financial flows involving listed states, and some of the companies in these countries may not benefit from European financial aid.

The "blacklist" has stoked controversy and has been a sore point in EU-Africa relations in recent years. As a result, some African ministries of finance note the lack of European action to combat multinationals that, every year, take advantage of the obsolete treaties, in order to heavily reduce their tax obligations in some of the countries of the continent.

African critics also complain that Brussels does not give them the opportunity to explain their legislative framework. While Mauritius was warned earlier this year that it risked being sanctioned given the failure of its banks to stem the financing of terrorism, Botswana and Ghana were not made aware.

That's why Botswana's ambassador to the EU, Samuel Outlule, said he was "shocked" when the EU released its blacklist. "These actions, launched during the devastating coronavirus pandemic, will destroy Botswana's economy," the ambassador added.

"We hoped, and still hope, that the spirit of partnership [established in the past] would prevail and lead us to work together constructively, to address the issues raised by dialogue [and mutual understanding], and not that one actor takes unilateral and punitive measures against the other," says Samuel Outlule.

Citizenship and residence-for-pay systems are still commonplace in the EU, according to a report by the NGO Global Witness which calls on the Commission to take steps to ban such practices.

The Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) called the classification "unilateral and discriminatory."

However, Botswana hopes to be removed from the EU's "grey" list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, once it signs the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

The Botswana authorities claim to have submitted a report to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) at the end of February 2020. However, the face-to-face exam scheduled for March 2020 was cancelled due to the health crisis and postponed to April 2021.

In addition, the recovery action plan, approved by both parties, valid until December 2020, has been extended until April 2021.

"Unfortunately, the EU decided to blacklist us before the plan expired. In addition, we were unable to speak with the FATF and did not receive feedback on our 2020 report," said Mr. Outlule.

In order to be removed from the list, as ethiopia and Tunisia were earlier this year, governments must commit to complying with EU money laundering legislation and make public information on the companies' beneficiaries. and trusts.

"There is no consultation between the European Commission and the government, so the news surprised us," the Botswana ambassador said.

"We were not difficult partners and stressed, through our ministries of foreign affairs and finance, that it was not fair for the EU to treat us this way."

The ambassador admitted that this situation "has hampered our relations with the European ship, but that we are not embittered."

"We continue to work with the EU and hope that these actions will be taken into account," he concluded.

The European Commission has included Saudi Arabia and Panama in its blacklist of jurisdictions that do not do enough to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorist groups, despite the reluctance of the France or Germany.