By Maureen Kariuki, Karabo Rajuili and and Edwin Wuadom WardenFirst published on Open Government Partnership Corporate anonymity poses significant risks to domestic resource mobilisation in Africa. Research by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) suggests that African countries can retain an estimated US$89-billion per year if illicit capital flight can be addressed. Accelerating Read more >
Posts
CORRUPTION NEWS
Image: Michael Kuhlmann for UNCTAD Over one trillion dollars. That’s the amount of money that Africa is estimated to have lost in illicit financial flows (IFFs) over the past 50 years (Kar and Cartwright-Smith, 2010; Africa Growth Initiative, 2020). The current estimate is an annual amount of around $50-billion, and possibly more – a significant Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
Beneficial ownership is back in the news at the moment. Opacity in knowledge of the real person behind a company, trust, or corporation, and who will ultimately benefit from its activities – the beneficial owner – is crucial to combating money laundering, tax abuse, and corruption. Illicit financial flows (IFFs) cost money, resources, and Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
By Liesl Louw-Vaudran First published on the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) The African Union (AU) has marked 2018 as the African anti-corruption year, with the theme of Winning the Fight Against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation. Anti-corruption activists and organisations across the continent will be happy to hear this. It comes at Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
The problem with illicit financial flows is not just that they are illicit, but that their effect spreads far beyond their immediate area of occurrence. Millions of people are affected, economies are weakened, and development is halted, while a shady few accumulate wealth and influence. A high level conference, held on 14 July at Pretoria Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
Money laundering and illicit financial flows are two related, but distinct types of corruption that pose a huge threat to development and political and economic stability around the world. Developing countries are especially hard hit. The two are closely linked to the concept of beneficial ownership, which is a term referring to the true owner Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
by Khayalethu Hamana Over the past 50 years, Africa is estimated to have lost more than $1-trillion in illicit financial flows, but this may well fall short of reality, because accurate data does not exist for many countries. The estimates often exclude illicit flows, such as the proceeds of bribery and the trafficking of drugs, Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
By Khalil Goga At the recent Pan-African Parliament session in South Africa, former South African president Thabo Mbeki presented the African Union high-level report on illicit financial flows (IFFs). The parliament accepted the report and its recommendations, showing an increased urgency in limiting IFFs on the continent. The Mbeki report refers to IFFs as funds Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
Africa has been bleeding for decades, losing trillions of dollars to tax dodgers through illicit financial flows. This phenomenon, a common practice by multinational corporations, is also known as “illicit financial flight”. This is money that could have gone towards development interests for millions of Africans. To help remedy the state of affairs, a new Read more >