Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire — Governance lies at the heart of addressing development challenges on the continent. While the story of the past decade has been one of steady progress throughout Africa, issues of governance, including lack of transparency and accountability remain pervasive concerns, undermining social, economic and political progress at many levels.
Illicit financial flows (IFF) and corruption are a serious consequence of these governance shortcomings. While these issues are not unique to Africa, it is the continent where the phenomena has arguably the largest impact due to the small size of its economies, and the fragility of their financial systems.
African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina has pointed out the importance of addressing corruption and tackling IFFs for economic transformation and the realization of the various development aspirations of the continent, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union (AU)'s Agenda 2063.
The Bank recently embarked on a review of its working documents on IFFs. A new policy has been developed and the Bank is embarked on the revision and update of its 2007 Strategy on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financial Terrorism.
A two-day event is therefore being organized whose main objective is to carry forward the Bank's work on transparency and accountability, in particular as regards tackling IFFs and combating corruption. The specific activities to be undertaken are the following:
Consultation on the Bank Group Strategic Framework and Action Plan for the Prevention of Illicit Financial Flows in Africa (2016-2020)
Presentation of Country Action Plans under the Partnership on Illicit Finance
Presentation of Knowledge Work on Illicit Financial Activity in Africa
Launch of Anti-Bribery Policy Compliance Guide for African Companies
Participants
The event will draw participants from the Bank's regional member countries (RMCs) and regional organizations who are central to the Bank's work on anti-corruption and IFFs. These include:
Financial Intelligence Units and Anti-Corruption Commissions from RMCs
Invitees from relevant Ministries from countries who have developed Action Plans under PIF
Regional bodies, such as Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) and the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), Groupe d'Action contre le blanchiment d'Argent en Afrique Centrale (GABAC), Middle East & North Africa Financial Action Task Force against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (MENA FATF).
Private sector associations as relevant
Civil society organizations working on transparency and accountability including Transparency International, Tax Justice Network, Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), etc.
Development Partners (World Bank, OECD, PIF, United Nations Development Programme, etc.)
Select media organizations
Hosts
African Development Bank
Partners
http://www.oecd.org/
http://www.state.gov/e/eb/ifd/oma/pif/
Join us
Download the Concept note for the event here.
Download Event Registration Form here
Contact: IFFconsultation@afdb.org
Contacts
Evelynne Change, Chief Governance Officer, Governance, Economic and Financial Management, e.change@afdb.org
Florence Dennis, Manager, Integrity and Anti-corruption Department, f.dennis@afdb.org
Rose Mwebaza, Chief Natural Resources Officer, African Natural Resources Center, r.mwebaza@afdb.org
