The Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) has revealed that the African continent loses a staggering $88.6 billion annually to corruption and Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs).
The commission’s commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah who disclosed this on Monday in Niger state at a regional certification training on financial investigation for anti-corruption institutions in the ECOWAS region, regretted that the development takes up 3.7 percent of the continent’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Represented by the commission’s head of democracy and good governance division, Ebenezer Asiedu, Musah noted further that, corruption and financial crime are among the biggest obstacles to economic and social development in West Africa and around the world.
“For instance, researcn indicates that Africa loses a staggering $88.6 billion annualy due to Corruption and Illicit Financial Flows which takes up 3.7% of our continent’s GDP,” Asiedu said.
“As the financial industry experiences growth in West Africa, the increasing adoption of crypto-currencies and other emerging forms of online financial systems have introduced new risks and vulnerabilities across Member States, underscoring the need for anti-corruption institutions to develop specialize skills and knowledge to effectively combat these crimes.”
According to him, since the dawn of democratic governance in West Africa, ECOWAS commission has been strongly committed and has worked tirelessy throughout the region, to support the deepening of democratic governance norms and practices.
These efforts, he said are in line with ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government’s collective commitment to the principles of democracy and good governance as enshrined in the ECOWAS Revised ECOWAS Treaty (1993) and other extant legal and normative instruments such as the Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance (2001) and the Protocol on the Fight Against Corruption (2001).
“To a greater extent, these efforts have yielded considerable progress in the democratic consolidation in the reqion. In spite of the progress, democracy in most of our Member State faces fragility, particularly due to the menace of corruption,” he said.
Also speaking, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede who disclosed that corruption threats faced by the continent are not confined within national borders, added that they are sophisticated, tech-enabled, and deeply embedded within political and economic structures.
“To effectively confront these challenges, we must work together, sharing intelligence, harmnonizing our methods, and speaking in one voice as a region committed to integrity and justice.”