The Economic Governance and Public Finance Section (EGPFS), MGD has organized an African Regional Kick-off Workshop for 11 pilot countries to launch the statistical measurement of IFFs on Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 June 2021.
The phenomenon of Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Africa raises serious problems for financing sustainable and inclusive development by draining capital and tax revenues from African economies and diverting scarce resources from social spending and productive investment. Following the recommendations of the High-Level Panel on IFFs, the ECA jointly with UNCTAD and DESA launched projects to support African countries in curbing these flows, primarily through identification, capacity-building and strengthening surveillance capabilities at national levels. In 2018, UNECA, together with UNCTAD, and with the cooperation of UNODC, inaugurated a new Development Account Project called “Defining, estimating and disseminating statistics on illicit financial flows in Africa”. The project is aimed at consolidating existing IFF metrics and testing the new methodological guidelines for the measurement of Indicator 16.4.1, “Total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows (IFFs), in current United States dollars”, as well as building national statistical capacity by providing technical assistance and guidance to pilot countries for the measurement of the indicator using the defined standards and concepts developed by UNCTAD and UNODC.
Following a call for expression of interest in Africa in February 2021, more than 10 countries have committed to participate in pilot testing of the IFF methodology: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.
We are now organizing an African Regional Kick-off Workshop for pilot countries to launch the project’s activities on the measurement of IFFs on Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 June. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together countries to discuss issues pertaining to the measurement/ estimation of IFFs and the steps needed to pilot the new IFF methodology. The workshop will provide a platform for peer learning among key national agencies as well as introduce UNECA and UNCTAD teams supporting this project. National meetings will be subsequently organized to discuss country-specific data and measurement issues.
To join our event, kindly register at https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAqcuutqTsrGt3EhbZ_hetWFPnBDwIOXy1c and find workshop documents here.
For further information please contact Allan Mukungu mukungua@un.org, OIC, EGPFS, MGD