Lisbon, Nov. 17, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique and Angola are among the African countries with high crime rates and low resilience to organised crime, according to the “Africa Organised Crime Index 2025”, presented on Monday in Nairobi, Kenya.
The report, presented at the conference "Strengthening Africa's Response to Transnational Organised Crime" (ENACT), quantified the rate of organised crime and resilience of African countries on a scale of one to 10.
The African analysis was based on the global report presented on 10 November, which also includes figures for Portugal, Timor-Leste and Brazil.
Mozambique, with 6.63, ranks eighth among African countries with the highest crime rates, in a list that has the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the top of the continent's ranking, with 7.47. The Portuguese-speaking country has gained 0.43 since 2023, the year in which the last organised crime report was produced.
On the other hand, the south-eastern African country has a rate of resilience to organised crime of 3.25 - down 0.05 since the last report - making it the Portuguese-speaking country in the worst position in the high crime and low resilience ranking.
Angola, in turn, has a crime rate of 5.62, an increase of only 0.04 in 24 months, but still above 5.5 - a figure that experts consider to show that organised crime "significantly influences" the country, according to the report, and has a resilience of 4.21 - 0.29 less than in 2023.
Brazil, a Portuguese-speaking country not covered by the African report, has a crime rate of 7.07 - an increase of 0.30, making it the 14th worst country globally, in a list led by Burma (8.08), and is the Portuguese-speaking country with the highest figure.
In terms of resilience to organised crime, Brazil has a rate of 5.04 - an increase of 0.14 in two years.
Angola and Brazil, despite being in the high crime and low resilience quadrant, are close to the "safe quadrants" - crime below 5.5 or resilience above 5.5. Sixty-six countries (34.2%) are in this quadrant.
Rumbi Matamba, the analyst responsible for today's presentation of the report, told the Lusa news agency that the index does not measure the level of security, but pointed out that, even so, countries should want to "be placed in the low crime and high resilience to organised crime quadrant".
On the African continent, there are only three countries in this "ideal quadrant", with Cabo Verde in the best position, with a crime rate of 4.08 and resilience of 6.54.
The other two countries, besides Cabo Verde, that appear in this "ideal quadrant" are Senegal and Mauritius. Only 46 countries (23.8%) of all countries are in the quadrant of countries with a crime rate below 5.5 and resilience above 5.5.
The analyst warned, however, that the raw figures do not tell the whole story, since "there are 12 indicators, [and] an increase does not necessarily reflect one indicator, it is an average of the 12, so the dynamics are complex, especially when it comes to ascertaining where each country has improved".
Of the Portuguese Language Countries, Cabo Verde and Portugal are in the "ideal quadrant". São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste and Guinea-Bissau, with crime and resilience rates below 5.5, are in the "safe quadrant".
ENACT is produced by the Institute for Security Studies, in partnership with Interpol and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, of which Rumbi Matamba is a member.
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