Nigeria hosts roundtable on Africa’s illicit financial flow

The roundtable themed: “Mending the Leakages: Africa’s Battle against Illicit Financial Flows,” was organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Trust Africa and the Third World Network.
Newly appointed CDD Director, Ms Idayat Hassan, who succeeded Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim, said illicit financial flows consisted of the movement of illegally transferred assets or value and funds earned through illegal activity, including corruption, proceeds of tax evasion, amongst others.
 Quoting from a report titled: “Illicit Financial Flows and the Problem of Net Resources Transfers from Africa: 1980-2009” jointly published by Global Financial Integrity and African Development Bank in May 2013, she said: “It was revealed that, between 1980 and 2009, the economies of Africa lost between US$597 billion and US$1.4 trillion in net resource transfers away from the continent. Though, the report stressed, these transfers include both licit and illicit flows but the resource drain on Africa over the past thirty years is almost equivalent to Africa’s current GDP.”