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UNECA says Africa losing 50 bln USD annually through illicit financial flows

Xinhua, January 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)'s deputy executive secretary Abdalla Hamdok said Friday Africa was losing about 50 billion U.S. dollars annually through illicit financial outflows.

The UNECA has decried illicit financial flows out of Africa, saying the siphoning of the funds is undermining growth in Africa.

Hamdok said bold steps were required to deal with the matter which was prejudicing Africa of huge resources that could help spur development on the continent.

"If the continent arrests this and retains the money, you can imagine the impact it can have on social services and infrastructure development," he said.

Hamdok was speaking at a ceremony where UNECA signed a three- year Memorandum of Understanding with the African Capacity Building Foundation to build human and institutional capacity in Africa.

He said the funds were being siphoned out of Africa mainly through multinational companies, and indicated that UNECA was working with various partners to try and address the scourge.

He said the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki will present a detailed report giving recommendations on how to tackle the problem at the African Union summit in Ethiopia at the end of this month.

The Panel was established by UNECA and AU in 2012 to address the problem of illicit financial outflows from Africa.

He said foreign aid should not be the prime driver of growth in Africa since much of it comes with conditions attached.

Africa has been registering remarkable growth in recent years driven primarily by commodity exports but analysts warn that the continent must upgrade to exporting finished products for greater and equitable development.

While the continent is rich in minerals, agriculture remains the mainstay of Africa's economy.

The World Bank, in its latest Global Economic Prospects report, has projected the continent to grow by 4.6 percent this year, slightly up from 4.5 percent last year supported by sustained infrastructure investment, increased agricultural production and expanding service sectors. Endi