The dirty secrets of the dictators' favourite bank

• Author: Simon Allison, The Continent
• Published date: 24 November 2021
• Publication title: Mail & Guardian: Web Edition Articles (Johannesburg, South Africa)

We don't know if Joseph Kabila, during his 18 years as president, ever visited the bank's offices in person. We do know that the bank was owned and run by several of his closest family members; and that the proximity between the bank and the presidency is far more than just geographic.

The Continent can reveal that the bank allegedly played a central role in a years-long scam that allowed Kabila's family and close associates to launder at least $243-million in public and suspect funds, and make multimillion-dollar cash withdrawals.

On one occasion, $6-million was withdrawn – in cash – from an account linked to the Kabila family. To put this in perspective: 60-million Congolese citizens live below the international poverty line of $1.90 per day.

These startling figures come from the biggest-ever leak of African bank records: some 3.5-million statements, emails and documents that give an unprecedented insight into the inner workings of BGFIBank, the largest bank in central Africa.

The leak was obtained by PPLAAF, the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa, and the French investigative unit Mediapart, and shared with the European Investigative Collaborations network. The documents were trawled through by a consortium of investigators representing 19 different media houses across 18 countries, including The Continent, as well as five NGOs.

This investigation, known as Congo Hold-Up, offers the most convincing evidence yet of widespread corruption during Kabila's tenure as president, which lasted from 2001 to 2019. It also paints a damning picture of a bank which flouted rules and regulations – both its own and those imposed by national and international authorities – to enable looting on a grand scale.

"For me, BGFI is a mafia bank," said Jules Alingete, the head of the inspectorate general of finance, who was appointed last year by Kabila's successor, President Félix Tshisekedi. "It is unacceptable what happened."

The consortium made repeated and sustained attempts over the past month to obtain comment from senior executives at BGFIBank, including from the holding company's headquarters in Libreville, and its offices in Kinshasa and Paris. The bank did not respond in any way.

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