A UN study has shown that Africa is losing around $89bn annually illegally. Flaws including financial theft, tax avoidance, collecting the amount more than it receives in development aid. This figure was posted in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) on Monday. It was a 248 pages report. The report stated that nearly half of this huge figure was by the export of commodities like gold, diamonds and platinum. For example, gold accounted for 77 per cent of total under-invoiced exports worth $40bn in 2015.
This report called Africa a “net creditor to the world,” echoing economists’ as a continent is actually a net exporter of capital because of these trends. UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said that illegal financial flows steal Africa and its people of their prospects, undermining transparency and accountability and eroding trust in African institutions.
Data source: Reuters
