The World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has reported that the cross-border flows from proceeds of criminal activities are estimated between $1 trillion and $1.6 trillion yearly, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), revealed Africa to lose $148 billion of GDP to corruption, on Tuesday in Abuja.
Africa, according to him, is estimated to lose an amount in excess of USD 148 billion or about 25 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to corruption.
He made this revelation while delivering his goodwill message at the International Conference on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) and Asset Recovery organized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in collaboration with the Africa Union Advisory Board on Corruption (AU-ABC) and the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA).
Mr. Malami said the high-level panel report of the African Union and the Economic Commission for Africa (AU/ECA 2015 IFF Report) on illicit financial flow found that IFF in Africa was growing at 20.2% annually, with an estimated $50billion lost annually, and this was as a result of weak national and regional capacities to stem the tide.
The minister, therefore, said in line with the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and Financial Action Task Force recommendations, the Federal Government was taking steps to become more proactive to recover all stolen assets for the benefit of the people of Nigeria.
He explained that the delay in the passing of the Proceeds of Crime Bill 2020 (POCA) into
law by the National Assembly has hampered the attempt at providing a comprehensive framework on management of recovered assets, noting that the government has been assured that it would soon be forwarded to the President for assent into law.
“Let me also state that in order to address the challenges of illicit financial flows internationally, there is need to enhance consensus building and multilateral approach in Africa and beyond to enable us combat the threat posed by illicit finance in our countries.
“We can only achieve this by enacting relevant laws, trace and intercept the movement of illicit capital from our countries to “safe havens” and offshore financial centers.” He added.
In his welcome address, the ICPC Chairman, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, said illicit financial flows were generally recognized as a major threat to the actualization of the SDGs or Agenda 2030.
Professor Owasanoye said the Heads of State and Government and High Representatives at the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAA) in July 2015 affirmed their strong political commitment to address the challenge of financing for development and creating an enabling environment at all levels for sustainable development in its three dimensions, which include economic growth, protecting the environment, and promoting social inclusion.
According to him: “The AAA recognized that a fully equitable global economic system can actualize a world in which no one is left behind. A specific action area of the AAA report is the role of domestic public resources in meeting SDGs.”
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