Illicit financial flows threaten Africa's growth, says UNECA

Illicit financial flows across the continent continue to be the biggest avenue of losses of revenue across Africa, officials from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) have said. Officials from the commission say that Africa continues to lose a significant amount of revenue which has had grave consequences on the development of the continent. Illicit financial flows are illegal movements of money or capital from one country to another especially to safe havens without paying necessary taxes and appropriate revenues in countries where they are earned.This in turn reduces domestic resources and tax revenue needed to fund development. A 2015 report by the Africa Progress Panel led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki had put the value of illicit financial flows at $50b, but UNECA puts it over $80b. Abdalla Hamdok the deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist at UNECA said that the illicit flows mostly stem from capacity deficits of some countries to deal with tax evasions as well as inadequacies in tax collection.“The illicit financial flows also arise due to legal capacities in governments’ negotiation with multinationals which at times see countries getting raw deals,” Hamdok told The New Times in an interview. He added that only a small portion of the illicit financial flows were due to corruption as most people assume, with most being related to the nature of agreements and capacities. Of all the illicit financial flows across the continent, about 60 per cent of them are linked to commercial activities of multinationals while about 35 per cent of them were linked to criminal activities. Hamdok said by addressing illicit financial flows, African governments would collect revenue that would enable them not only finance their development, but also rid themselves of development assistance. “The total value of revenue lost through illicit financial flows is more than what Africa gets in foreign aid each year. By taking quick action to curb the financial flows, the continent can easily fund its development agenda,” he said. Among interventions to curb the illicit financial flows proposed by the commission are reforms that will tackle tax evasion as well as capacities to administer the reforms. The commission also proposes the boosting of capacities in litigation and contract negotiations of governments when dealing with firms. “Multinationals operating across the continent should adopt a country by country reporting system that will give clear insights to the performances and expected tax revenues,” the economist said. He also called for increased awareness and sensitisation for countries to be more aware of such activities.The African Union Commission says that by curbing illicit financial flows, Africa stands a high chance of self-financing and ridding itself of donor dependence. African Union Commissioner of Economic Affairs Anthony Mothae in a separate interview said curbing illicit financial flows is one of the much sought avenues to fund high cost development projects. He said that governments should not be afraid of putting in place measures to curb the trend for fear that they will scare away multinationals with interests of investing on the continent. “We have no interest in dealing with rogue investors and firms. As a continent we want to do business and engage serious and ‘clean’ investors,” he said. He noted that going forward, a consortium composed of African Union officials, Ministers of finance from Africa and UNECA was working in partnership with global financial institutions, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund among others to try to address the issue. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Illicit financial flows threaten Africa's growth, says UNECA