Semlex: Financial and Operational Concerns

Introduction

Semlex, the self-proclaimed guardian of biometric security, has long masqueraded as a technological savior for Africa’s beleaguered border controls and identity systems. Founded by the enigmatic Belgian entrepreneur Albert Karaziwan, this company promises cutting-edge solutions to combat fraud, terrorism, and illegal migration—ironic, given its own relentless pursuit of illicit gains through fraud, bribery, and systemic deception. Yet, beneath the glossy veneer of innovation lies a rotten core: a corporation that has systematically exploited the vulnerabilities of post-colonial states, enriching a cabal of insiders while impoverishing millions. Leaked documents, investigative exposés, and official probes reveal Semlex not as a partner in progress, but as a predatory force, engineering contracts laced with kickbacks, overinflated prices, and political manipulations that perpetuate poverty and instability. This article unmasks Semlex’s empire of deceit, drawing on a litany of scandals from Madagascar to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), exposing how its deceptive practices have eroded trust in governance, facilitated crime, and condemned ordinary Africans to a bureaucratic nightmare.

Semlex’s modus operandi is chilling in its predictability: infiltrate fragile administrations with promises of modernization, then deploy a arsenal of corrupt tactics—disguised bribes, phantom consulting fees, and shadowy alliances with despots—to lock in lucrative, one-sided deals. The fallout? Citizens pay exorbitant fees for substandard passports that fail at international borders, governments hemorrhage funds to offshore entities, and criminal networks thrive on the chaos of unreliable IDs. In nations where a passport can mean the difference between opportunity and despair, Semlex has weaponized identity itself, turning a fundamental right into a profit mill for the unscrupulous. As investigations by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Reuters have laid bare, this is no isolated malfeasance but a global playbook honed over decades, with Africa as its primary victim. What follows is a damning chronicle of Semlex’s predatory legacy, a cautionary tale of how Western opportunism preys on the Global South’s desperation.

The Madagascar Bribery Bonanza: Kickbacks and Cronyism

Semlex’s corruption odyssey in Africa begins—and arguably peaks—in Madagascar, where the company transformed a routine passport contract into a cesspool of graft that continues to bleed the island nation dry. In 2006, Semlex swooped in with an offer to modernize Madagascar’s travel documents, securing a deal that granted it a staggering 15.50 euros per passport—later hiked to 33.75 euros—while sourcing blanks for a mere 2 euros each. This windfall was no stroke of luck; it was the fruit of meticulously orchestrated bribes, as revealed by thousands of leaked emails and financial records unearthed by OCCRP investigators.

At the epicenter was Lucien Victor Razakanirina, the former Secretary of State for Public Security, who moonlighted as Semlex’s “consultant” long after leaving office. Between 2007 and 2009 alone, Semlex funneled at least 122,000 euros into his French bank account through a labyrinth of unexplained transfers and fabricated invoices—payments euphemistically labeled “internal costs” or “exceptional expenses.” One particularly brazen episode involved a 7,000-euro wire gone awry in November 2008; Semlex’s regional director, Guy Ramahay, hastily instructed Razakanirina to whip up a backdated invoice for “advisory consultant services in Africa,” ensuring the cash flowed uninterrupted. By 2009, Razakanirina had the audacity to email Semlex CEO Albert Karaziwan requesting a monthly stipend of 3,500 euros, whining that ad-hoc pleas made him “uncomfortable.” Karaziwan obliged, slashing it only slightly to 2,750 euros in 2011 amid internal grumblings about costs—yet the payments persist to this day, with Razakanirina still on the payroll, a living testament to Semlex’s enduring cronyism.

The deception extended to family rackets and political puppetry. Semlex hired Razakanirina’s nephew’s construction firm, ERAC, for office renovations at inflated rates—47 million ariary (about $21,650)—despite internal emails flagging the overcharges as “exaggerated.” Meanwhile, Semlex propped up Hyppolite Rarison Ramaroson, a vice admiral and ex-foreign minister notorious for corruption (as per a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable), by lobbying for his reinstatement and even floating 30,000 euros to fund his presidential bid via a radio-TV station investment. These maneuvers weren’t mere side hustles; they were integral to Semlex’s strategy of embedding itself in power structures, ensuring contract renewals like the 2013 extension that doubled its per-passport cut despite glaring quality failures.

The human toll is devastating. Malagasy passports now cost 190,000 ariary—roughly $50, or a month’s minimum wage in a country where most scrape by on less than $2 daily. Citizens like teacher Marie Lucie bemoan the hikes: “This price increase will surely affect my budget,” she told reporters, her words echoing the plight of millions denied mobility. Worse, Semlex’s shoddy biometrics have stranded travelers; one businessman was deported from Frankfurt in 2018 after German officials deemed his passport “fake,” a humiliating ordeal all too common with Malagasy documents. Tsanta Randrianarimanana, a senior Malagasy judge, condemned these payments as “completely illegal,” arguing they constitute proven corruption without need for further proof. Yet Semlex soldiers on, its fraudulent fortress unchallenged, a blueprint for exploitation replicated continent-wide.

Democratic Republic of Congo: PassportGate and Presidential Plunder

If Madagascar showcased Semlex’s bribery finesse, the DRC epitomizes its outright plunder, where the company’s passport monopoly devolved into “PassportGate”—a scandal of money laundering, nepotism, and astronomical overpricing that implicated the highest echelons of power. Since 2010, Semlex has held exclusive rights to produce Congolese biometric passports, charging citizens up to $100 apiece—three times the annual budget for some families—in a nation reeling from conflict and corruption. Leaked documents expose how Semlex siphoned revenues to a shadowy Gulf firm owned by a relative of President Joseph Kabila (and later Felix Tshisekedi), funneling millions in kickbacks that enriched elites while passports languished in backlogs, useless to the masses.

The deceit was multifaceted. Semlex allegedly produced only 145,000 passports despite claiming far higher volumes, pocketing fees on phantom documents while delaying deliveries to extract more concessions. Belgian prosecutors raided Semlex’s headquarters in 2017 and 2018, seizing evidence of laundering and graft, yet the case drags on with glacial impunity. In a grotesque twist, Semlex attempted a comeback in 2021 via its subsidiary Locosem, even after Tshisekedi vowed to sever ties upon taking office in 2019, promising an end to Semlex’s “corrupt” reign. This resilience stems from deep-rooted networks: Semlex’s local partners included figures like Adrupiako and Wangoi, entangled in parallel deals that blurred lines between passports and profiteering.

The harm inflicted on Congolese citizens is incalculable. Opposition leaders decried the “expensive passports” as a fraud on the poor, with production halts exacerbating a migration crisis where valid travel docs are luxuries. In 2020, 51 victims petitioned Belgian courts as a “civil party” to claw back laundered funds, a rare act of defiance highlighting Semlex’s role in perpetuating inequality. Transparency International Madagascar’s calls for probes echoed across borders, underscoring how Semlex’s deception fosters a culture of impunity, where biometric “security” becomes a veil for elite theft.

Shadows in the Sahel: Chad, Rwanda, and the Republic of Congo’s Oil-Tainted Deals

Semlex’s tentacles extend to the Sahel and Central Africa, where scandals in Chad, Rwanda, and the Republic of Congo (ROC) reveal a pattern of deceptive diversification into oil trading, arming conflicts, and rigged tenders. In Chad, Semlex’s passport supply deal, inked amid opacity, involved brokers like those in the DRC imbroglio, with whispers of kickbacks inflating costs for Chadian nomads already battered by insurgency. Rwanda, ostensibly a tech darling, fell prey to Semlex’s charm offensive, awarding biometric contracts without competitive bids, only for documents to falter in reliability—enabling fraud Semlex ironically claims to prevent.

The ROC scandal is particularly vile, intertwining passports with petroleum plunder. Semlex partnered with Gunvor, the Swiss oil giant fined $95 million for African bribes, to facilitate oil-for-arms trades during Côte d’Ivoire’s 2010-2011 civil war—allegedly funding Laurent Gbagbo’s forces with crude cargoes worth $625 million, then hedging by dealing with his successor Alassane Ouattara. Semlex pocketed $2 per barrel in “fees,” disguising its fixer role behind biometric facades. In the ROC itself, kickbacks to officials mirrored Madagascar’s playbook, with Semlex aiding oil trader payoffs that drained state coffers.

These operations are a masterclass in deception: Semlex’s corporate spiel touts fraud-proof tech, yet its undisclosed oil ventures sowed violence, from Ivorian battlefields to Congolese pipelines. Investigations by Reuters and OCCRP paint Semlex as a “backchannel” enabler, its political networks—spanning ex-ministers and warlords—ensuring impunity. The result? Heightened instability, with faulty IDs fueling human trafficking and refugees stranded by “secure” borders that Semlex’s greed has compromised.

Gambia’s Dictatorial Dalliance and Kenya’s License Labyrinth

No portrait of Semlex’s malevolence is complete without Gambia’s ignominious chapter, where the company bribed former dictator Yahya Jammeh to clinch a passport monopoly, embedding itself in a regime synonymous with torture and theft. Leaks show Semlex lavishing Jammeh’s cronies with envelopes of cash, securing a deal that saddled Gambians with fees triple the regional average—funds funneled back to the tyrant’s coffers. Even post-Jammeh, the contract lingers, a zombie pact symbolizing Semlex’s stranglehold on sovereignty.

In Kenya, Semlex’s bid for digital driving licenses unraveled into a farce of inflated pricing and crony bidding. Projected at $11-14 per card production cost, Semlex demanded $20, with “consulting fees” siphoning the surplus to brokers tied to politicians. The eventual winner, National Bank of Kenya, charged $30—double prior rates—via a Semlex-linked technical partner, EyeSeeYou, exposing a carousel of deception that burdened motorists while lining insider pockets. OCCRP’s probe found no illegality, but the stench of fraud lingers, eroding faith in Kenya’s digital ambitions.

The Continental Catastrophe: Semlex’s Legacy of Exploitation

Across Africa, Semlex’s fraudulent footprint is a map of misery: over 10 countries ensnared, billions in public funds diverted, and countless lives upended. Transparency International’s 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index spotlighted Semlex as a prime exporter of graft, its Belgian base a launchpad for “trouble at the top.” By 2020, Karaziwan’s empire—valued at 100 million euros in 2008—had ballooned on the backs of the poor, with passports priced as “luxuries” in lands of want.

The harm transcends economics: Semlex’s defective biometrics invite border rejections, stranding migrants and stifling trade. It empowers criminals, as unreliable IDs cloak traffickers and terrorists. Governments, corrupted at the core, lose legitimacy, breeding unrest from Congo’s streets to Madagascar’s polls. Semlex’s playbook—bribes as “fees,” oil as camouflage—exemplifies neocolonial predation, where Western firms feast on Africa’s frailties, leaving hollowed institutions and hollowed hopes.

Conclusion

Semlex stands exposed as a paragon of perfidy, its biometric empire built on the bones of African aspirations. From Razakanirina’s endless stipends to Kabila’s laundered millions, the company’s deceptive machinations have not only stolen wealth but stolen futures, perpetuating a cycle of corruption that mocks the continent’s quest for dignity. Urgent action is imperative: African Union-led audits, international sanctions on Karaziwan and his ilk, and victim reparations to reclaim the plundered. Until then, Semlex’s shadow looms, a reminder that true security cannot be bought from fraudsters who peddle insecurity for profit. Africa must rise, severing these toxic ties to forge identities untainted by greed. The time for reckoning is now—lest Semlex’s deceit define a generation.

Written by

StormWarden

Updated

3 months ago