Hezbollah’s financial networks in West Africa are coming under renewed scrutiny, with Sierra Leone emerging as a potential hub where Lebanese diaspora communities, natural resource trading and alternative financing channels intersect, Erem News reported. 

As the Iran-backed group seeks new sources of funding and alternatives to supply routes disrupted by developments in Damascus and Beirut, security and research sources cited by Erem News describe a complex network spanning several African countries. The alleged system relies on commercial connections, illicit trade and financial channels that could help Hezbollah sustain its operations despite international sanctions and mounting pressure on its traditional sources of support.

The networks also raise questions about the roles of influential Lebanese political figures and the longstanding connections between the country’s Shiite political establishment and business communities in West Africa.

Blood diamonds and money laundering

Lebanese migration to Africa, which began in the second half of the 19th century, helped establish deep economic and social ties between Lebanon and countries such as Sierra Leone. According to historical and political sources cited by Erem News, those connections eventually provided a foundation for commercial networks allegedly exploited by Hezbollah and the Amal Movement to gain influence over illicit diamond trading.

The civil war in Sierra Leone, which lasted from 1991 to 2002, further enabled the expansion of diamond-trading networks reportedly linked to Hezbollah, the sources say. Their influence allegedly grew within local Shiite communities as commercial relationships developed around the diamond trade.

Security sources operating in Sierra Leone allege that Hezbollah has used so-called blood diamonds as a means of laundering money and channeling proceeds to support its interests. The diamonds are extracted from conflict areas, often through criminal gangs accused of exploiting children, women and other vulnerable people.

The sources identify Nazem Said Ahmad as one of the prominent figures allegedly involved in these activities, accusing him of using diamond-trading networks to launder money and finance Hezbollah. Similar practices are also alleged to involve networks in Congo and several other African countries.

The allegations form part of a broader picture of illicit financial activity that researchers say has allowed Hezbollah-linked networks to exploit commercial and community ties across the continent.

Alternative funding and smuggling routes

Specialized sources and research centers familiar with the issue say Hezbollah has sought to strengthen its presence in Africa to establish alternative, independent sources of funding and counter international sanctions targeting the group and Iran, its principal backer.

The effort has taken on greater importance as the group faces dwindling resources and a reported decline in donations from both inside and outside Lebanon, in terms of both volume and value.

According to the sources, Hezbollah-linked networks have been involved in drug smuggling and money laundering in countries including Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau and Côte d’Ivoire, taking advantage of security gaps and inadequate oversight.

More concerning, the sources say, is the alleged development of cross-border networks that recruit local sympathizers and connect them with individuals linked to the group. These networks are accused of facilitating arms transfers and the movement of military equipment between Lebanon and countries including Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia and Sierra Leone.

The report also describes the use of front companies to disguise illicit proceeds as revenue from apparently legitimate businesses, including import-export operations, real estate and food trading.

Traditional hawala money-transfer systems and the physical smuggling of cash are also reportedly used to circumvent financial restrictions imposed on Iranian and Hezbollah-linked funding networks.

Together, these methods are said to provide alternative channels for moving money and goods across borders, making the networks more difficult for authorities to monitor and disrupt.

Nabih Berri’s family and West African business ties

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who also heads the Amal Movement, figures prominently in the report’s account of the historical and political links connecting Lebanese business networks in West Africa with Lebanon’s Shiite political establishment.

Research reports cited by Erem News argue that the history of Lebanese communities in West Africa cannot be separated from the families and influential figures who accumulated substantial wealth through informal economic activity and natural resource trading.

Berri was born in Sierra Leone in 1938 to a Lebanese family originating from the southern town of Tibnin. His family’s history, the report says, reflects the longstanding ties between Lebanese expatriate communities and the region’s commercial networks.

According to sources cited in the report, Berri’s father, Mustafa Berri, was a prominent member of the Lebanese expatriate community involved in Sierra Leone’s diamond trade. Berri is said to have developed a broad network of alliances with influential Lebanese businesspeople in the country, including the late businessman Jamil Said Mohamed, as well as powerful traders involved in money and timber who controlled important parts of Sierra Leone’s economy.

The report says the role of the Berri family and the first generations of Lebanese expatriates extended beyond ordinary community and social relations. Their commercial interests were reportedly tied to mining companies, diamond trading and networks that helped shape what the report describes as the financial base of the African Shiite diaspora.

Although Amal and Hezbollah emerged from different historical and organizational backgrounds, the report argues that their interests have converged through cross-border business networks in Africa.

Wealth accumulated by businesspeople connected to Lebanon’s Shiite political circles in Sierra Leone and other West African countries, including Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, reportedly helped finance infrastructure, civil institutions and economic networks. These structures, in turn, provided channels through which Hezbollah could mobilize support within its own sectarian community.

As Amal consolidated its political influence in Lebanon, the report says, increasingly complex political and economic partnerships developed between the movement’s traditional leadership and networks linked to Hezbollah.

Their interests allegedly intersected in key trading sectors, banking and real estate in Lebanon, with some of the money flowing into these activities originating from Lebanese expatriate communities in Africa.

The report maintains that these networks and partnerships remain active, providing Hezbollah with alternative financial and arms-related channels, although their role has reportedly diminished in both scale and scope.

Intelligence pressure on diaspora networks

Hezbollah-linked financial networks in Africa are now facing increased intelligence scrutiny and tighter international and domestic oversight, according to the report.

The pressure has intensified following the assassinations of senior political figures and field commanders and as the group’s ability to move money through traditional routes, including Beirut’s airport, has reportedly weakened.

Against this backdrop, Lebanese diaspora networks in West Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone, remain under international security scrutiny because of their potential role in moving funds and sustaining cross-border commercial relationships.