Actionable Intelligence Technologies (AIT), a supplier of solutions for financial investigation, is working closely with the Namibia Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to help country’s authorities identify, expose and dismantle organizations involved in systematic financial theft.

AIT is providing Namibia with its Comprehensive Financial Investigative Solution (CFIS), which enables an investigator to analyze financial records exponentially faster than is possible with traditional manual methods.

Nelius Becker, Chief, Prosecutions and Investigations for Namibia ACC, said: “The challenge is considerable, no question about it. These cases are by their nature very complex, and it requires not only the political willingness to pursue them but also the technical means to do so effectively.”

“On the technological front, we see CFIS as one of the most helpful tools since the passage of the money laundering and corruption laws themselves in combating organized criminal organizations. CFIS is a tool that I cannot live without in my investigations; it is worth its weight in gold,” he said.

In placing a strong national focus on white-collar crime, Namibia joins a growing roster of countries determined to combat perhaps the most pernicious economic problem confronting the developing world—systematic theft through financial misappropriation.

Namibia is a member of the Egmont Group of financial intelligence units, which includes representatives from around the world.

In Africa alone, the Egmont Group includes representatives of 21 countries, ranging geographically from Algeria and Morocco all the way down to Namibia and the Republic of South Africa.

Many of the financial investigative units in these countries, as well as in other countries around the world, are displaying interest in AIT’s technology.

Susan Deehan, AIT Chairwoman, said: “In addition to the Namibia ACC we’re in discussions with Namibia’s Inland Revenue Service about how CFIS can help the agency enforce the country’s new tax laws, the Republic of South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority and the Kenya Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, as well as multinational organizations in Asia.”

“There tends to be a perception that corruption is endemic to the developing world, and that these nations are uninterested in doing anything about it. That is absolutely, categorically not the case,” she said.

The organization Global Financial Integrity recently did a study of 82 of the poorest countries in the world and found that 32 of them had illicit financial outflows greater than 10% of total trade, and 20 of them had illicit financial outflows larger than their inward foreign direct investment and foreign aid combined.

Contrary to popular belief, corrupt activities such as bribery and embezzlement constitute only about 3% of the total.

The bulk of the misappropriated funds—60% to 65%—are lost through commercial transactions by multinational companies.

Becker said that corruption is not only a problem in Africa.

"It is important for other nations and agencies to learn about the tools that can help cut down on financial crime. Crime is crime and it should all be treated as such,” he said.