AfDB Says Nigeria, Others Losing $50 Bn Annually To Illicit Financial Flows

Nigeria and other African countries are losing more than $50 billion per annum to illicit financial flows, the African Development Bank has said. The Senior Director, Nigeria, AfDB, Ebrima Faal, said this at the opening of a workshop on the role of the parliament in combating illicit financial flows from the continent.

Faal noted that the parliament had a primary role to play in checking illicit financial flows because of its role in promoting good economic and financial governance through effective oversight of the public budget and expenditure management. He stated, “Estimates on illicit financial flows are highly disparate due to differences in methodologies. Current estimates suggest Africa could be losing more than $50bn annually in illicit financial flows. “This is about the same size as the total Foreign Direct Investment or total remittance flows, and slightly higher than overseas development assistance.

But these estimates may well be lower than actual outflows as accurate data do not exist for all African countries, and some discrete forms of illicit financial flows are excluded and, therefore, not easy to track, let alone estimate.” The AfDB director added, “The role of the parliaments in promoting economic recovery and sustainable development is a fundamental one.

Photo Caption: AfDB Logo