Financial Transparency Coalition

What if every time you donated a dollar to help an impoverished community, two dollars left the very same place? Alarmingly, this isn’t far from the reality of the world economy. According to a report led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki on behalf of the UN Economic Commission of Africa (UNECA) High Level

African leaders made a strong declaration on the importance of curbing illicit financial flows when they endorsed a new report on the problem at the African Union Summit in January. The report, produced by the Mbeki High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, estimated that Africa was losing between $50 billion and $150

ADDIS ABABA— As African leaders are meeting in  Addis Ababa to discuss growing threats from extremist groups, instability, and poverty, Heads of State are urged to give priority to  a growing threat to their economies: illicit financial flows. On Saturday, African Union Heads of State will review a report produced by the AU High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows, which has been chaired by Thabo Mbeki. The new report looks at the dire consequences of illicit financial outflows from Africa, estimated at US$50 billion per year, according to Global Financial Integrity (GFI) and the African Development Bank. “The fact that...

As Libya prepares for the future, what are financial centres doing to stop the flow of stolen assets from dictators? The following is adapted from a speechmade by Transparency International’s vice-chair, Akere Muna, at the UN public service forum in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania. If corruption, especially money laundering and bribery are to be tackled, we need to see action not only from developing countries, but also countries that are home to major financial centres. Here in Africa there is wide recognition that poor governance is one of the biggest barriers to sustainable development, what is missing is recognition...