Global South Dialogue on Economic Crime Research

What the network aims to do

The Global South Dialogue on Economic Crimes Network (GSDEC) is an interdisciplinary platform for advancing dialogue, research, and capacity on economic and financial crimes. Its mission is to inform, influence, and improve researchers’ and stakeholders’ involvement in deliberations to curb illicit financial activities. Stakeholders include policymakers, enforcement officers, bankers, governments whose actions and inactions could lead to or combat illicit financial activities.

With stakeholders at the forefront of combating these crimes, GSDEC is focused on facilitating practical, innovative, and research-oriented responses to address complex economic crime challenges in the Global South. This initiative is coming at a time when the economic growth of Global South countries is undercut by illicit financial activities, thereby hindering their projected development.

Our stakeholder involvement is geared at engineering and facilitating in-country knowledge and expertise, whilst endeavoring to provide a platform for Global South academics and stakeholders to share their research. We offer support to early-career researchers in the dissemination of their research outputs.

In line with its mission, GSDEC will project the expertise of leading stakeholders and members who are extensively involved in combating economic and financial crimes across the Global South. We believe that this would facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue and projects that would improve the Global South’s capability to effectively respond to illicit financial crimes. GSDEC uses the following channels in disseminating research outputs: conferences, webinars, blog posts, academic publications, interviews, and media content. We also share recent news, events, and opportunities in the space of economic and financial crimes.

Our events have brought together experts from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, Transparency International and leading academics to address matters in the field of economic and financial crime. You can find a report of one of our events here.

The Global South Dialogue on Economic Crime (GSDEC)’s inaugural conference themed Financial Regulation: A global south perspective was held on the 21st of August 2021, and was hosted by Aston University. The conference was focused on critically examining whether the current global financial regulatory framework is best suited to combat financial and economic crime in the Global South effectively.

Download the full press release from the event below:

GSDEC Inaugural Conference Press Release 19.24 KB

Upcoming Event

AML: Lawyers As Gatekeepers

This webinar seeks to explore the role of lawyers in the race against global money laundering.
Thursday 28th October 2021 15:30-16:40 BST
Venue: Zoom

Find out more and register here.

Our Team

Dr Joy Malala Aston Law School: Dr Joy Malala is a Lecturer at Aston University Law School. She has a special interest in researching financial regulation and supervision, the legal accountability of regulators, corporate governance, as well as the regulation of financial innovation and technology. She particularly researched the legal and regulation of mobile payment systems which she examines in her book, Law and Regulation of Mobile Payment Systems: Issues Arising ‘post’ Financial Inclusion in Kenya’. This book is a first of its kind, addresses the legal and regulatory issues arising out of the introduction of mobile payments in Kenya and its drive towards financial inclusion. It considers the interaction between regulation and technological innovation with a particular focus on the regulatory tools, institutional arrangements, and government decisional processes through the assessment as a whole of Kenya’s regulatory capacity. It also addresses the vulnerabilities presented by technological innovation for consumers after financial inclusion. She moreover researches financial sector reform through the consideration of the role of Central banks, and systemically important financial institutions and their impact on emerging economies.
Publications Here
Dr. Folashade Adeyemo University of Reading School of Law: Dr. Folashade Adeyemo is a lecturer at the University of Reading, where she teaches both Company Law and Banking Law. Her jurisdictions of interest are Nigeria and the UK. She has published in the field of banking and financial regulation, and has a specific interest in bank insolvency, company law and whistleblower protection. Her most recent article was published in the Journal of Business Law (2020), where she considers whether whistleblowers are adequately protected under the Public Interest Disclosures Act 1998. Her forthcoming monograph is titled Banking Regulation in Africa: The Case of Nigeria and Other Emerging Economies, (Routledge, 2021). The books’ core jurisdiction focus is Nigeria, and it explores, in detail, the effectiveness of the banking regulatory environment. This book also explores the newly enacted Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 as part of this discourse. Fola has been invited to contribute two chapters in a forthcoming Commercial Law book, to be published by Edward Elgar, 2022. This student friendly text will be useful to students studying commercial law and to those who want an easy understanding of banking law in the UK. She is also the co-editor of anther forthcoming monograph, titled Bank Insolvency Law in Developing Economies: A Treatise of Selected African and Middle Eastern Countries (Routledge 2022).
Publications Here
Dr. Lovina Otudor: Dr Lovina Otudor was called to the Nigerian Bar 17 years ago, Lovina Otudor had a brief feel of Private Practise before moving to the Cross River State Ministry of Justice, Nigeria where she rose to the position of Deputy Director. Lovina Otudor holds a master’s degree and PhD from the Institute of the Advanced Legal Studies University of London. Her research interest includes Corporate Governance, Financial regulation, Financial Crime, Economic Law with a focus on developing economies and the need for creating a conducive and level playing field on international regulatory matters. She was the editor-in-chief of the IALS Student Law, a position she relinquished in November 2019, has been a guest lecturer at Queen Mary University London.
Dr. Nkechi Azinge-Egbiri University of Lincoln School of Law: Nkechikwu Valerie Azinge is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Lincoln where she researches on financial crime regulation. Her primary research focus is on the global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) regulation. She has published articles on this area and recently she published a book titled Regulating and Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing: The Law in Emerging Economies. Nkechi studied at Law at University of Leicester, United Kingdom. She obtained her LLM in International Economic Law (with a distinction) and her PhD in Law from the University of Warwick.
Publications Here

Our experts

Luckystar Miyandazi: Luckystar Miyandazi is an International Tax Specialist, with experience working on policy research and political economy analysis. She is currently the Tax Inspectors Without Borders Project Specialist and Coordinator for Africa with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).Previously, she worked between Maastricht, the Netherlands, and Brussels, Belgium on international policy, including tax policy and political economy issues in Europe and Africa relations for a think tank. She has also worked as team lead in coordinating and managing pan-African campaigns and advocacy activities across more than 20 African countries on tax justice issues at ActionAid International and Tax Justice Network-Africa. Luckystar has completed a Master of Science (MSc) in Taxation from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, where she was a Field Court Tax Chambers Scholar at the Oxford Law Faculty. She holds a master’s degree (Distinction) from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – ASERI in Milan, Italy. In 2020 she was listed as one of Tax COOP’s 35 Leaders of the Future in Taxation excellence, in recognition of her work as a promising young tax policy expert who passionately contributes to the advancement of taxation and tax justice.

Our partners

ENACT: Enhancing Africa’s response to transnational organised crime

Recognising that organised crime poses challenges not only to Africa, but also to surrounding regions, the international community has been working to develop effective, long-term responses.

The European Union (EU) has placed security in Africa at the forefront of its international agenda, notably though its Pan-African Programme – the first programme of its kind to centre on development and cooperation, and covering Africa as a whole.

One project under the Pan-African Programme is ENACT: Enhancing Africa’s capacity to respond more effectively to transnational organised crime. ENACT works to mitigate the impact of transnational organised crime (TOC) in Africa on development, governance, security and the rule of law.

It achieves this in two ways: first, by building knowledge and offering evidence-based analysis of TOC in Africa, which will inform policy and enhance cooperation at the regional and continental level. Secondly, ENACT builds skills and capacity among key African stakeholders to better respond to transnational organised crime and mitigate its impact.

ENACT is a three-year programme, and supports the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership and the Joint Africa-EU Strategy and Roadmap 2014-2017.

Find out more information: