Skip to main content

Nasrallah’s death shakes Hezbollah’s African funding network

1 min

The future looks increasingly uncertain for Hezbollah following the death of its leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday night. 

Each year, hundreds of millions of dollars are funneled into Hezbollah's coffers via emissaries who travel discreetly across West Africa, including countries such as Senegal, Liberia, Togo, Ghana, Benin, and Côte d'Ivoire © Mena Today 

The future looks increasingly uncertain for Hezbollah following the death of its leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday night. 

The decapitation of most of the top leaders of the terrorist organization has sent shockwaves through its support base, particularly in Africa, where Hezbollah enjoys significant backing from the Lebanese Shiite diaspora.

A large Lebanese Shiite community, loyal to Hezbollah, has long financed the movement through opaque and highly organized networks. 

Each year, hundreds of millions of dollars are funneled into Hezbollah's coffers via emissaries who travel discreetly across West Africa, including countries such as Senegal, Liberia, Togo, Ghana, Benin, and Côte d'Ivoire.

This secretive cash flow, often referred to as "dirty money," is generated through a variety of illegal activities. These include the extortion of Lebanese merchants, the trafficking of used cars, and involvement in drug trafficking. 

This financial lifeline from the Shiite diaspora in Africa has been on the radar of Western intelligence agencies for years, but curbing it has proven difficult.

The complicity of local African political leaders, combined with a deeply entrenched system of corruption, has made it challenging to disrupt Hezbollah's revenue streams. 

Despite the ongoing efforts of intelligence agencies, Hezbollah’s African funding networks remain intact, bolstering the group’s resilience even as it faces internal turmoil following Nasrallah’s death.

The loss of Nasrallah, coupled with the dismantling of its senior leadership, presents a major challenge for Hezbollah. It remains to be seen how the group will navigate this uncertain future, especially as scrutiny of its African financing intensifies. 

However, the deep-rooted networks and connections built over decades may prove difficult to dismantle in the short term.

By Bruno Finel 

Related

United Nations

Top UN envoy in Lebanon calls for truce, UN resolution enforcement

A call by the U.S. and France for a 21-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah "is still on the table," said the top U.N. official in Lebanon on Wednesday as she pushed for a way to enforce a U.N. Security Council resolution violated for years by both sides.

Lebanon

France to host Lebanon conference on Oct 24

France will hold an international ministerial conference over the crisis in Lebanon on Oct. 24 that will focus on the political situation there and humanitarian aid amid an escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, the foreign ministry said.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Mena banner 4

To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.

  • Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.