On June 25, 2015, the Interim Working Group of the African IFF Campaign Platform will launch the “Stop the Bleeding” campaign in Nairobi, Kenya. The main goal of the campaign is to stop IFFs from Africa. The aim of the launch is to implement one Africa Campaign on IFFs that is led and driven by African civil society organisations with support from other partners including international non-governmental organisations (INGOs).
Africa loses massive financial resources, about US$50 billion each year through illicit activities of multinational companies and rich individuals. These resources, if retained in the continent, could be invested in productive sectors of these economies to lift Africa’s growing population from under-development and poverty.
According to the African Union/Economic Commission for Africa High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa report, the continent lost about one trillion dollars (US$1 trillion) between 1980 and 2008. Other estimates are even higher. The Panel was chaired by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa.
The multiplier effects of these losses are much larger. IFFs from Africa in real terms mean loss of jobs, income, decent education, health facilities and other basic infrastructure critical to structurally transform the economy of countries in Africa and the socio-economic conditions of Africans.
According to the High Level Panel’s report the major perpetrators of IFFs from Africa are multinational companies, especially those operating in Africa’s extractive sector, mostly in oil, gas and mining. These activities pose a major threat to sustainable development and security across the continent. The HLP report recommends 15 solutions African countries must implement to curtail IFFs from the continent.
It is against this backdrop that the Interim Working Group (IWG) of the African IFF Campaign Platform comprising six Pan-African organisations namely Tax Justice Network-Africa (TJN-A), Third World Network-Africa (TWN-Af), Africa Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) and Trust Africa supported and joined by the Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ) will launch a unified African campaign platform on Illicit Financial Flows. Dubbed “STOP THE BLEEDING” the launch will take place on June 25, 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya.
As a follow up to the public launch of the Campaign in June, a side event will be held on the margins of the upcoming 3rd Financing for Development Conference (FfD3) in July in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.The side event will introduce the Africa IFF campaign, re-emphasis the importance of taking forward the recommendations contained in the “Mbeki HLP report”, and highlight some of the joint plans that CSOs and other African institutions such as the African Union and UNECA have been undertaking to push for the implementation of the “Mbeki HLP report”.
The side event will target African delegations, CSOs, African institutions and agencies present at the FfD3 conference. The side event will feature a panel session comprised of representatives from the African Union Commission, Africa Group delegation, Economic Commission and civil society.
