In recent years, Russia has been seeking to expand its influence in Africa. One country it has focused on is the Central African Republic, a small but strategic nation with significant diamond mines. Russia has now announced that it wants to lift an embargo which prohibits suspected “blood diamonds ” from being exported from certain […]

Note: This op-ed originally appeared in Lawfare and was written by Hilary Mossberg,  AML/CFT Advisor for Africa for The Sentry. Few things are as constitutive of the Western foreign policy orthodoxy toward Africa as sanctions. Sanctions programs abound in the continent, yet they frequently fall short of their goals. We propose some ways to recapture […]

“Reporting the facts of such highly volatile and complex crises is essential if they are ever to be tackled, and if the death and suffering are ever to end. The oil companies and authorities who fan the flames for their own ends need to be exposed, and nongovernmental organizations such as Mr. Clooney’s and reporters […]

“Oil revenues and income from other natural resources have continued to fund the [South Sudan civil] war, enabling its continuation and the resulting human rights violations,” according to The Sentry, a website focused on “dirty money connected to African war criminals and transnational war profiteers.” The Petroleum Ministry funded food, fuel, and satellite phone airtime […]

A new report that examines the effectiveness of sanctions is proposing improved regional collaboration and enforcement of ‘network sanctions’ as opposed to individual restrictions, to effectively address threats to regional and international stability. The report compiled by ‘The SENTRY,’ a US-based non-profit investigative team, examines the broad impact of sanctions levied by the United States, […]

Sanctions programs levied on some Sub-Saharan African countries could be made more effective by targeting specific networks rather than comprehensive sanctions against an entire country, a new report says. The report, published by policy advocacy group The Sentry on Thursday, evaluates the effectiveness of sanctions programs currently or previously placed by the U.S., the European Union […]

– FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – New Report by The Sentry Details Impact of Sanctions in Sub-Saharan Africa In-Depth Study Documents Successes and Challenges of Targeted Network Sanctions and Presents Recommendations to Increase Effectiveness October 24, 2019 (New York) – Targeted network sanctions programs can be an effective tool in addressing rogue regimes and illicit actors […]

Note: This op-ed originally appeared in African Arguments and was written by John Prendergast, Co-Founder of The Sentry, and Brian Adeba, South Sudan Investigative Analyst at The Sentry. In the excitement around Sudan’s evolving political order and the concerns around South Sudan’s challenges, less attention has been paid to some long-standing contentious issues that have the potential to create […]

Note: This op-ed originally appeared in African Arguments and was written by John Prendergast, Co-Founder of The Sentry, and Brian Adeba, South Sudan Investigative Analyst at The Sentry. في ظل الحالة المثيرة التي يشهدها الوضع المتطور للنظام السياسي في السودان والمخاوف المتعلقة بالتحديات التي تواجه جنوب السودان، تم إيلاء اهتمام أقل ببعض القضايا المستمرة التي […]

On October 11, 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Ashraf Seed Ahmed Hussein Ali, a Sudanese national widely known by his pseudonym “Al-Cardinal,” pursuant to Executive Order 13818 and the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, for his alleged involvement in bribery, kickbacks, and procurement fraud with senior […]

South Sudan’s fragile peace deal is faltering less than a month before the country’s president and armed opposition leader are meant to form a coalition government and begin the long recovery from a five-year civil war. Some doubt it’s safe enough for opposition leader Riek Machar to return to the country by Nov. 12, when […]

Sudan’s new, transitional authorities have six months to make peace with the country’s rebels under a power-sharing deal reached this summer between the military and the pro-democracy movement following the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April. If they fail to do so, it could undermine the deal and put the country’s fragile transition […]

The United States on Friday placed sanctions on two businessmen, saying they had been involved in corruption and procurement fraud in South Sudan. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Sudanese businessman Ashraf Seed Ahmed Al-Cardinal and South Sudanese businessman Kur Ajing Ater Ajing for “involvement in bribery, kickbacks […]

The U.S. may impose sanctions on South Sudan’s ruling elite if leaders fail to meet a mid-November deadline to form a unity government, a senior U.S. official warned Thursday. The world’s youngest nation, South Sudan plunged into conflict two years after separating from Sudan and gaining international recognition in 2011. The country’s feuding factions agreed […]

BREAKING: U.S. Sanctions Al-Cardinal, Tycoon Named in Investigative Reports by The Sentry Sentry Co-Founder George Clooney: “Al-Cardinal has built a corporate empire on the back of predatory business dealings in South Sudan.” October 11, 2019 (Washington D.C.) — Today, the United States placed sanctions on Ashraf Seed Ahmed Hussein Ali, widely known as Al-Cardinal, a tycoon with […]

The Africa Oil and Power (AOP) Conference taking place in Cape Town this week is a high-powered event bringing together African governments and top executives of corporates across the energy value chain. The AOP website describes it as “the venue for deal-making with Africa’s emerging enterprises and economies” Deals may be clinched, but will they […]

The Trump Administration is blocking shipments from a Chinese company making baby pajamas sold at Costco warehouses, after the foreign manufacturer was accused of forcing ethnic minorities locked in an internment camp to sew clothes against their will. The government is also blocking rubber gloves sold by industry leader Ansell whose customers include surgeons, mechanics […]

Sudanese businessman Ashraf Seed Ahmed Hussein Ali, known as Al-Cardinal, remains “a major enabler of corruption and violence for President Salva Kiir’s government,” claims the latest investigative report by The Sentry. Al-Cardinal, according to the report published on Monday, “has mastered the art of doing business in a state riddled with corruption.” Since 2006, he has “exploited opaque […]

Host Isabella Chase looks at how innovation could be used to solve a number of problems in the AML/CFT regime. To discuss the latest financial crime news she is joined by Denisse Rudich and Nick Parfitt where they dissect a case brought against BNP Paribas, UK companies being exploited for crime and the latest sanctions […]

Tycoon with Ties to US, UK, and UAE Has Received Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Suspect Contracts, Imported Weapons, and Formed Business with a Ruthless Warlord October 7, 2019 (Washington, D.C.) — An investigative report published today by The Sentry, “Al-Cardinal: South Sudan’s Original Oligarch” spotlights the business activities of Ashraf Seed Ahmed Hussein […]