When more than 40 heads of state recently met in Washington for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, improving economic opportunities topped the agenda. The leaders could take pride in Africa's recent economic performance. But the gathering also spotlighted a daunting obstacle to sustaining robust and widely shared growth on the continent: rampant corruption that robs citizens of billions of dollars every year.
By one estimate, illicit financial flows from Africa amounted to US$1.4 trillion between 1980 and 2009 -- more than the economic aid and foreign direct investment the continent received during that period.
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