Financial Secrecy Remains a Challenge in Africa
According to the latest edition of the Financial Secrecy Index 2026, published on June 23 by the NGO Tax Justice Network, Algeria, Egypt, and Nigeria are the top three African countries contributing to financial opacity. Tunisia, on the other hand, ranks 13th in Africa and 102nd globally, far behind the world's major financial secrecy hubs.
Methodology
The study evaluates 141 jurisdictions based on two criteria:
- The level of opacity permitted by their regulatory framework
- The importance of their activity in international financial services The goal is not to measure the volume of fraud or money laundering, but to identify countries whose rules facilitate the concealment of assets, tax evasion, or lack of financial transparency.
Key Findings
With an opacity score of 74 out of 100, Algeria ranks 31st globally, making it the most opaque jurisdiction on the continent. The report highlights weaknesses in:
- Transparency regarding the beneficial owners of companies
- Access to company accounts
- Publication of contracts in the extractive industries
- International cooperation in tax information exchange
African Rankings
Egypt follows closely, ranking 32nd globally, ahead of Nigeria (35th). The top 10 African countries are:
- Algeria (31st globally)
- Egypt (32nd)
- Nigeria (35th)
- Kenya (45th)
- South Africa (49th)
- Mauritius (54th)
- Morocco (62nd)
- Tanzania (70th)
- Seychelles (77th)
- Ghana (81st)
Tunisia ranks 13th in Africa and 102nd globally, indicating a lower level of opacity compared to the continent's major financial hubs, but still with room for improvement in terms of financial transparency and international cooperation.
Global Insights
One of the key takeaways from the report is that the most influential jurisdictions in global financial secrecy are not necessarily exotic tax havens. The United States, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Germany occupy the top five spots in the global ranking due to the combination of their weight in international finance and certain weaknesses in their transparency mechanisms.
