MEFMI Conducts Regional Workshop on Illicit Financial Flows

Fiscal sustainability concerns in Africa continue to emerge. Deteriorating public debt management landscape amidst external vulnerabilities which have now been exacerbated by the economic pressures induced by the COVID-19 pandemic is a major concern. This calls for efforts to strengthen fiscal policy institutions for effective and efficient revenue mobilisation and public spending. However, the growing magnitude of illicit financial flows (IFFs) which continue to undermine domestic resource mobilisation efforts in the continent continue to raise concerns.

By their very elusive nature, IFFs are very difficult to track. Further, the mechanisms through which IFFs take place are complex and continue to become more advanced with increasing globalisation and developments such as the growth of the digital economy. This necessitates the strengthening of capacity for identifying and curbing illicit financial flows within the region. Against this background, MEFMI conducted a regional workshop on illicit financial flows over the period 11 to 15 October 2021.

The workshop strengthened participants’ understanding of the conceptual framework and typology of illicit financial flows, their enablers and disablers, policy levers and toolkits for curbing IFFs, as well as monitoring and enforcement strategies. The workshop also raised awareness on existing and proposed methodologies for measuring various components of IFFs.  In addition, the workshop included a hands-on session where participants were tasked to develop holistic strategies for curbing IFFs in selected MEFMI countries through a case study group exercise.

The workshop was attended by 65 officials that included 22 female and 43 male from nine (9) MEFMI member countries, namely Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The workshop was facilitated by two (2) independent consultants on IFFs, namely; Ms. Katerina Nicolaou-Manias and Ms. Amandine Rushenguziminega. The course also benefitted from three (3) speakers namely; Mr. Bojan Nastav from UNCTAD, Ms. Diana Camerini from UNODC, and Mr. Federico Sallusti from the Italian National Institute of Statistics; who shared their experiences on measurement of IFFs.

MEFMI expects that participants will apply the knowledge and skills gained from the workshop to identify the different types of IFFs that are prevalent in their countries, be able to adequately measure them, employ the relevant risk assessment tools, and develop relevant strategies to curb these illicit flows. It is anticipated that reducing these illicit flows will contribute to the availability of the much-needed resources by member countries to finance the achievement of their development goals.

Prepared by Vivian Namugambe