Africa vows to recover stolen funds

Leaders at summit in Nigeria propose setting up regional body to fight graft

FORMER British prime minister David Cameron was caught talking about an anti-corruption summit and calling Nigeria “fantastically corrupt” two years ago. But, meanwhile, his country ranks among the top destinations for stolen assets from African countries.

Nigeria and former British colonies in Africa hope to change that by working together to repatriate billions of dollars in offshore accounts from London and beyond.

At a regional conference held in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, the heads of anti-corruption agencies from around Africa met to discuss strategies to overcome bottlenecks in the recovery of stolen assets.

“Concerned about the heavy losses that Africa suffers as a result of illegal transfers of proceeds of corruption and crime out of Africa,” the anti-corruption representatives have vowed to strengthen cooperation and partnership in the tracing, recovery and return of assets.

They further pledged in a joint statement to encourage African countries to commit to greater corporate transparency.

Commonwealth secretary-general Patricia Scotland said Africa was losing tens of billions of dollars annually to corruption, and urged the anti-graft tsars to lead the “fight against this tsunami”.

“We all know that the difference between the money we need to deliver the hopes and aspirations [of our people] . . . and the money we have, is the sum equivalent to that which is egregiously siphoned off by corrupt practices,” Scotland said.

Nigeria, the continent’s largest oil producer, is ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world by anti-graft group Transparency International.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to continue his war against corruption.

Buhari’s anti-graft chief, Ibrahim Magu, claimed earlier this year that his agency had recovered more than 500-billion naira (R16.6-billion) in illicit funds.

But the government’s fight against corruption has been accused of being politically motivated.

Commonwealth adviser Roger Koranteng said leaders at the summit wanted a regional approach to recovery of stolen assets.

“There is strength in unity. If you go as a single country, you will have a problem because the countries outside the African countries are together,” he said.

Sustaining the momentum, however, may be difficult.

Ghana’s independent prosecutor, Martin Amidu, said the will to tackle corruption ebbed and flowed on the continent.

“For me, for the past decades, Africa has had a mafia of leaders who speak of corruption as if they are against it, but internally didn’t attempt to fight it,” Amidu said.

However, countries stand to gain huge amounts of money.

It is difficult to trace how repatriated money is being spent, with some critics voicing concerns that stolen money gets repatriated to Nigeria only to be looted again.

“There is a need for robust oversight mechanisms as well as continuous monitoring of the use of recovered assets to ensure that they are used properly and efficiently for development outcomes and poverty alleviation,” Marie Chene, of Transparency International, said in a report last year.

Greater global attention is helping reforms, anti-corruption activists say.

“It took the publication of the Panama Papers to expose many government officials with offshore accounts,” Debo Adeniran, of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders lobby group, said. “The decision to sign mutual legal assistance with several countries is helping the [Nigerian] government in its loot recovery efforts.”

Buhari’s anti-corruption sweep and banking reforms were acting as a deterrent, Adeniran said.

“When you steal and cannot keep the money in the banks, you will stop stealing,” he said. – AFP