Criminal market
4.96
Human Trafficking
6.61
Human Smuggling
6.22
Arms Trafficking
6.78
Flora Crimes
4.56
Fauna Crimes
5.17
Non-Renewable Resources Crimes
5.17
Heroin Trade
3.89
Cocaine Trade
2.61
Cannabis Trade
5.61
Synthetic Drugs Trade
2.94
Criminal Actors
6.06
Mafia-Style Groups
4.33
Criminal Networks
6.56
State-Embedded Actors
7.00
Foreign Actors
6.33
Political Leadership and Governance
3.67
Government Transparency and Accountability
2.61
International Cooperation
4.17
National Policies and Laws
4.56
Judicial System and Detention
3.56
Law Enforcement
3.72
Territorial Integrity
4.39
Anti-Money Laundering
4.11
Economic Regulatory Environment
3.72
Victim and Witness Support
1.78
Prevention
2.44
Non-State Actors
3.33
Indeed, six of the nine countries in the region appear in the top 20 highest-scoring countries for criminality, with Somalia and South Sudan leading the way in joint-fourth position, followed closely by Sudan, with the sixth highest criminality score in Africa. In the region, strong trends were identified in both criminal markets and criminal actors, as well as resilience. The region averages higher in terms of criminality (5.51) than the rest of the continent (4.97), with criminal markets at 4.96 (compared to Africa’s overall score of 4.68) and actors at 6.06 (where Africa averages 5.25). In line with other regions, criminal actors in East Africa drive up the overall criminality score. The most prevalent criminal markets in East Africa as a whole are for human trafficking, human smuggling and arms trafficking, each with average scores considerably higher than in the rest of Africa. While East Africa’s average criminal market score is actually lower than West Africa’s, its average criminal actor score of 6.06 is the highest of the five regions on the continent by a notable margin, driven predominantly by the influence of both criminal networks and state-embedded actors. In terms of resilience, East Africa is overall the second least resilient region (after Central Africa), with an average resilience score of 3.50, compared to the African average of 3.86. As is the case with many countries across the continent, resilience measures in this region are focused primarily on heavy security frameworks, at the expense of 'softer' response mechanisms.
Criminal market
3.05
Human Trafficking
3.00
Human Smuggling
2.50
Arms Trafficking
5.50
Flora Crimes
1.00
Fauna Crimes
3.00
Non-Renewable Resources Crimes
5.00
Heroin Trade
2.50
Cocaine Trade
1.50
Cannabis Trade
3.50
Synthetic Drugs Trade
3.00
Criminal Actors
4.25
Mafia-Style Groups
1.00
Criminal Networks
5.00
State-Embedded Actors
6.00
Foreign Actors
5.00
Political Leadership and Governance
4.00
Government Transparency and Accountability
3.50
International Cooperation
5.00
National Policies and Laws
5.50
Judicial System and Detention
3.00
Law Enforcement
3.00
Territorial Integrity
2.50
Anti-Money Laundering
5.00
Economic Regulatory Environment
3.00
Victim and Witness Support
2.50
Prevention
2.00
Non-State Actors
4.00
Markets for heroin, cocaine and synthetic drugs reportedly have little to no influence on society. However, the legalisation of cannabis for medicinal purposes has led to Lesotho being at the forefront of the emerging cannabis industry. In relation to non-renewable resources crimes, there are concerns over diamond smuggling, as Lesotho is known for its easy access to high-quality diamonds. This has created a market for smuggled diamonds, especially in extremely impoverished areas. Experts note that, in terms of arms, smaller weapons are often smuggled into the country to be used in robbery, hijacking and petty crime. Homicides involving firearms are on the rise in Lesotho, which makes arms trafficking a concern. National criminal networks have a significant negative impact on society as they are described as being quite common and use moderate levels of violence. They also often have affiliations with political parties. State-embedded actors are, however, the most influential criminal actor type in Lesotho. Low-level corruption is known to facilitate illegal activity in the country, and government officials have been implicated in the human trafficking market. Lesotho ranks 30th for resilience, which reflects the country’s relatively average performance. The country scores well for international cooperation and national policies and laws against organised crime. Notably, however, corruption is considered to be rife and prevention measures and law enforcement in Lesotho, as well as territorial integrity, judicial system and detention, and victim and witness support are noted to be extremely ineffective.
For a better experience, please rotate your device.
The criminal markets score is represented by the pyramid base size and the criminal actors score is represented by the pyramid height, on a scale ranging from 1 to 10. The resilience score is represented by the panel height, which can be identified by the side of the panel.