ESAAMLG Annual Meetings Begin in Kigali With Focus on AML/CFT Effectiveness
The Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) annual meetings begin in Kigali, Rwanda, on 31 August 2026, bringing together government ministers, financial intelligence units, regulators and international partners for a week of regional AML/CFT and counter-proliferation financing discussions.
The meetings run through 5 September under the theme “From Technical Compliance to Demonstrable Outcome: Strengthening Effective AML/CFT/CPF Systems in Eastern and Southern Africa.” Rwanda’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and Financial Intelligence Centre are hosting the programme in partnership with ESAAMLG.
Task Force, ministers and public-private dialogue
The programme includes the 52nd Task Force of Senior Officials meeting, the 26th Council of Ministers meeting, technical working groups, bilateral engagements and a public-private sector dialogue. ESAAMLG’s own events calendar schedules the Task Force from 31 August to 4 September, followed by the Council of Ministers and public-private discussions.
Rwanda says participants will include officials from ESAAMLG’s 22 member countries, representatives of the Financial Action Task Force, and observers or partners from the United Kingdom, United States, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, African Development Bank, COMESA, SADC and other international organisations.
Focus shifts from rules to effectiveness
The stated theme places emphasis on moving beyond formal technical compliance toward evidence that AML/CFT/CPF systems work in practice. That distinction is increasingly important in FATF-style mutual evaluations, where jurisdictions are assessed not only on whether laws and institutions exist but also on whether they produce effective outcomes.
The meetings are expected to provide a forum for member jurisdictions to review implementation progress, share operational experience and coordinate regional responses to money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation-financing risks.
For compliance professionals, the main value will come from any mutual-evaluation outcomes, follow-up decisions, typology work or implementation guidance adopted during the week. Those outputs may have more direct regulatory significance than the meeting itself and should be monitored as they are released.
