Inner Circle Briefing: Illicit Rosewood & Timber Exports from the Central African Republic (CAR)

Illicit Timber as Financial Infrastructure in Russian and Chinese Gray Zone Operations

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Executive Summary

Illicit rosewood exports from the Central African Republic (CAR) have become a strategic revenue stream for armed groups, corrupt intermediaries, and transnational facilitators. While CAR is not the region’s largest rosewood source, it’s an increasingly important transit and laundering hub for Pterocarpus erinaceus (Kosso), Entandrophragma cylindricum (Sapelli/African Mahogany), and Triplochiton scleroxylon (Ayous/Obeche). These woods are trafficked via transit corridors through Cameroon (Douala) and the Republic of the Congo (Pointe‑Noire), using falsified documentation, shell firms, and weak enforcement.