The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has lamented that Africa is losing about $88 billion dollars annually to the illicit financial flows in the continent. He decried the increasing rate of illicit financial flows in Africa.

The Minister and other Speakers at the 5th Session of Sub-Committee on
Tax and Illicit Financial Flows of the Specialized Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration, held in Abuja, emphasized the need for African countries to strengthen their tax base and strengthen public Financial Management.

The 5th Session of the African Union Specialised Technical Subcommittee on Tax and Illicit Financial Flows, IFFs, jointly hosted with the Nigeria Revenue Service, NRS, brought together delegates from African Countries and other parts of the world.

Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, noted that despite its fast potentials, Africa continues to face problem of illicit financial flows, estimated at about $88 billion.

On the priority areas for Africa Reform, Edun emphasized the need for the continent to broaden its tax base, strengthen public Financial Management, promote domestic saving and financial inclusion to mobilize Capital as well as develop robust capital market and investment innovation.

The Executive Chairman NIRS, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, emphasized the need for governments across the continent to finance infrastructure, strengthen social protection, support industrialization, and address climate vulnerabilities, while at the same time grappling with substantial losses of financial resources to through illicit financial flows, tax evasion, aggressive tax avoidance and the like.

Other Speakers at the event expressed the need for more collaboration and cooperation among African countries towards harnessing the potentials that abound in the region.