Cattle-laundering, conflict, and terrorist financing in the Lake Chad Basin

Recent reports have found that cattle rustling – the forceful theft of livestock for illicit commercial gain – has become increasingly prevalent in the Lake Chad Basin in Africa, linking the cattle industry with conflict and terrorist financing. Between 2015 and 2024, the incidences of cattle rustling by Boko Haram at the borders of Cameroon and Chad have increased nearly 800%, from two incidences reported in 2015 to 158 in 2024. These incidences have also been accompanied by increased fatalities, with 20 deaths linked to cattle rustling in 2024.  

According to experts, cattle rustling is a major source of funding for armed groups, with the stolen cattle used to buy weapons and supplies. Tactics range from direct theft to illegal livestock taxes on pastoral communities, and are becoming increasingly elaborate. In some cases, the stolen cattle are ‘laundered’: taken to Nigeria, the region’s biggest cattle market, to be exchanged for other ‘clean’ cattle that are then taken back to Cameroon for sale.  

The risks for the financial system

This illustrates an increased risk for financial institutions exposed to the cattle industry in the Lake Chad Basin through direct and indirect activities like investments, loans or insurance, or through their supply chain when it comes to financial crimes such as conflict and terrorist financing, money laundering, and other human rights abuses. This case also emphasises the risks posed to the financial system. Indeed, as found in our 2024 report, ‘Financial Crimes and Land Conversion: Uncovering Risk for Financial Institutions’, almost half of financial institutions surveyed reported operating with or in high-risk sectors or areas.  

In our recent update of the Land Conversion and Financial Crime Risk Assessment, created together with WWF, in which we outline the financial, environmental and serious organised crime risks and associated human rights risks related to the production of certain commodities in particular countries, we have accordingly updated the risk rating for the cattle industry in Cameroon and Nigeria to red, which indicates a high risk for terrorist and conflict financing Further information on our risk rating determination is available here.

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(Source: Themis and WWF-UK, Land Conversion and Financial Crime Risk Assessment)

Managing risk better with a new open access platform for financial institutions

As risks are constantly changing and evolving, we undertake regular updates to the Risk Assessment. Other key changes in this round of updates to the Risk Assessment include, for example:  

• new data on the prevalence of carbon credit fraud in Brazil’s timber industry,

• official complaints from Ghanian cocoa growers on the industry’s use of child labour and dangerous pesticides,

• an Indonesian corruption scandal in the tin industry, and  

• sanctions imposed by the US and UK on an international gold smuggling network in Kenya.  

Finally, we have also updated our Environmental Crimes Financial Toolkit, also developed  with WWF, to include a new search function, which streamlines the process of searching for key case studies at the intersection of financial and environmental crime. These case studies provide concrete insights into financial and environmental crime risks and have a dedicated section in the toolkit.

To try it out for yourself, visit the website here.