Illicit Financial Flows in Africa: Ebrima Sall Estimates Annual Losses at Nearly $90 Billion

“Already in 2015, Africa was losing $50 billion a year in terms of illicit financial flows. Currently, the estimates are 90 billion. These leakages of financial flows mainly affect the extractive and mining sectors. They lead to huge losses for the continent,” revealed Mr. Sall.

According to him, the continent has a real bloodletting at this level, arguing that the authors of these leaks exploit resources or trade with Africa using all means allowing them to avoid taxes to States. He added that the ongoing campaign aims to stop this phenomenon and repatriate the resources lost in tax havens.

Returning to this conference, the executive director of Trust Africa informs that the increase in African debt is explained by the fact that African countries are getting into debt in foreign currencies. “Some countries, including the United States, are much more indebted than us but they are indebted in their currency, which means that the risk is never too high for them. But our tragedy is that we borrow with draconian conditions and currencies that are not ours, ”explained Ebrima Sall. He noted that African countries are very heavily indebted, which represents a huge burden for the continent and prevents it from achieving its goals of sustainable and inclusive development. “The resources we generate go largely to debt repayment. We spend a lot of time to free ourselves from this debt, which is very heavy and mortgages the transformation of our economy,” he said.
Adou FAYE