We need to arrest illicit financial outflows from Africa, says Akufo-Addo

We need to arrest illicit financial outflows from Africa, says Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed grave worries about the issue of illegal financial withdrawals from the African continent and their blatantly detrimental effects on the continent’s populations.

The president has urged the continent’s corporate community and African leaders to work together to put an end to the problem.

At the Peduase Presidential Lodge, President Akufo-Addo delivered his remarks at the conclusion of the inaugural three-day Africa Prosperity Dialogues.

President Akufo-Addo said, “We need to pay serious attention to and stop illegal financial outflows out of the continent, which are estimated to be over US$88 billion yearly and deprive Africa of major resources that could be used to promote our development program.”

“To combat tax-motivated illicit financial flows, enhance legal and law enforcement systems, and bring together national agencies to block such flows, we must promptly and collectively enact comprehensive and unambiguous tax policies.”

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To combat the systematic underdevelopment of our continent and the theft of its resources, he continued, “We need to take immediate action.”

President Akufo-Addo remarked that the AfCFTA offered a great opportunity for businesses to set up and expand in Africa because it aims to eliminate tariffs on 97% of the items traded inside the African continent.

“While we recognize the enormous challenges we may face, it is the smart actions that we take, the investments we make in our people, and the speed and effectiveness in implementing the common African market that will guarantee that the 1.3 billion people who call this continent home can enjoy a prosperous and fulfilling life,” he said.

“We can’t fail”

However, the president acknowledged that more work had to be done in order to fully reap the rewards of intra-African commerce.

He urged the audience that Africa needed to make investments in its physical infrastructure and productive capability.

The president hammered home the point that Africa must make investments in and take use of innovation and technology to modernize its economic structures and educational systems.

He claimed that in order to maintain technological and market competitiveness, Africa must develop convergences in trade and technology policies and embrace new strategies.

According to President Akufo-Addo, Africa presents a chance for the entire globe, and it must rise up and take back its rightful place.

“We must now with great zeal and fortitude back this great ambition with our collective action to harness fully the benefits of a liberalized single market for goods and services, this must be our solemn and moral obligation to our continent, to our children and future generations.”

“We cannot afford to fail, as African nations, we must join hands with each other and work diligently to pursue this noble cause,” he said.

Maiden APD

Top Notch African business leaders took part in the inaugural session of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD), an African effort that aims to propose signature laws to guarantee the full implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

President Akufo-Addo hosted the participants during the three-day retreat, which kicked off on Thursday, January 26, 2023, and came to a close on Saturday, January 28, at the presidential retreat, Peduase Lodge, on the Akuapem Mountain.

Ralph Mupita, Group CEO of MTN, Africa’s largest telecommunications business, Julius Mwale, a Kenyan millionaire, and Mesfin Tasew Bekele, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airways, were among those there.