Addis Ababa — The High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa (HLP), chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, will launch its final report on Sunday, February 1 2015 at the United Nations Conference Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The launch of the Report will follow its prior submission to the Assembly of the African Union (AU) on 31 January 2015.

The report, which was compiled following a vast consultative process undertaken by the HLP across Africa, Europe and the U.S. over the last two years, contains key recommendations aimed at combating illicit financial flows (IFF) from the continent.

While IFF are a global problem, their impact on the continent is monumental, thereby representing a significant threat to Africa's governance and economic development. Current evidence shows that Africa lost in excess of US$50bn annually between 2000 and 2008. The level of illicit financial outflows from Africa exceeds the official development assistance to the continent, which stood at $46.1bn in 2012.

Some of the effects of illicit financial outflows are the draining of foreign exchange reserves, reduced tax collection, canceling out of investment inflows and a worsening of poverty. Such outflows also undermine the rule of law, stifle trade and worsen macroeconomic conditions.

The HLP, established by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union (AU) was inaugurated in February 2012 to address the debilitating problem of illicit financial outflows from Africa.

For media queries, contact:

John Kaninda - jkaninda@uneca.org

and

Sophia Denekew - denekews@uneca.org