Financial Transparency Coalition

Poverty ain’t what it used to be, nor for that matter where it used to be either. As the nature and location of poverty continues to change, the illicit financial flows agenda becomes all the more important for development. Historically, the vast majority of people living on less than a dollar a day (or $1.25, where the World Bank’s line is now drawn) did so in low-income countries (LICs); that is, in countries with per capita gross national incomes less than $1005. So: income-poor people lived in income-poor countries. Simples. And true: twenty years ago, 93% of those in...

PARIS – With Ghana, Georgia and Nigeria joining in the past few weeks, the Global Forum on Transparency has now 101 members and expects more countries to join soon.

ACCRA – Intelligence picked by The Herald has revealed some shocking underhand dealings involving a fishing company at the Tema Fishing Habour called Free Fisheries Ghana Limited, owned by Olga Popova, a Russian lady.

A recent report from ActionAid made headlines when it accused SABMiller, the world’s second largest beer company, of avoiding millions of pounds worth of tax in India and the African countries in which it operates. ActionAid argues that through financial transactions with subsidiaries located in tax havens, SABMiller shifts its profits largely via royalty and management fees to firms in developed countries with lower tax rates. As a result, lower local profits mean less taxable income, and that denies governments the revenue needed to build key infrastructures such as schools, roads, and ports. On the other hand, Zahid...