Addis Ababa — The Economic Commission for Africa will assemble a group of experts this week in Addis Ababa for a discussion on how to enrich and shape the forthcoming sixth edition of the African Governance Report (AGR VI ) themed: 'Institutional Architecture to Address Illicit Financial Flows from Africa'.
Expected at the meeting are experts from governments, research and academic institutions, think tanks from within and outside Africa, as well as staff from ECA and other UN entities.
AGR is a biennial publication, which assesses and monitors progress towards effective governance in African countries. Each edition discusses a different topic relevant to governance in Africa.
"The Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 all highlight the importance of tackling IFFs. Indeed, stopping illicit financial flows from Africa is a key policy priority for the continent, and for the world," says Adam Elhiraika, Director, Macroeconomic Division at the ECA.
Mr Elhiraika adds that this is reflected in the African Union Special Declaration on Illicit Financial Flows adopted by African Heads of State and Government in 2015, as well as the adoption of target 16.4 of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals to reduce illicit financial flows worldwide.
"Yet available estimates indicate that Africa continues to lose up to $100 billion annually through illicit financial flows. As such, there are clearly gaps in the institutional and policy architecture to prevent IFFs in Africa," he says.
The report will draw on insights from ECA's previous work on illicit financial flows to provide a more systematic, comprehensive and in-depth treatment of how African countries can best develop and use institutions to tackle IFFs.
The meeting will review, discuss and provide feedback and inputs, which will validate and enrich the content and structure of the concept note and lay the groundwork for the preparation of the report. Experts will also contribute to on-going dialogue on increasing the knowledge of African countries on existing and new institutions and policies to effectively help tackle illicit financial flows at national level. In addition, experts will make proposals for strengthening and clearly articulating measures based on African interests that can help curtail IFFs at the regional and global levels.
