Africa has lost $1.2 trillion in dirty money, Nigeria tops list
WASHINGTON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt top the list of African countries that have hemorrhaged billions of dollars gained from corruption, kickbacks, tax evasion and other illicit activities since 1980, a new study shows.
Africa has lost at least $1.2 to 1.4 trillion in illicit financial flows – commonly called dirty money for its shady origins – between 1980 and 2009, according to the report from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the advocacy group Global Financial Integrity. In the decade up through 2009, $30.4 billion a year was leaving Africa, it said.
These sums dwarf by a factor of three the amount of development aid that governments have pumped into the continent over 30 years. In fact, so much money flows out that Africa is a net creditor to the rest of the world, even though many of its citizens remain desperately poor, the report said.
“The traditional thinking has always been that the West is pouring money into Africa through foreign aid and other private sector flows, without receiving much in return. Our report turns that logic upside down,” said Raymond Baker, president of Global Financial Integrity. Read more
