African nations vow to recover stolen assets
Heads of anti-corruption agencies discuss strategies to overcome bottlenecks
Former British prime minister David Cameron two years ago was caught talking about an anti-corruption summit and calling Nigeria “fantastically corrupt”.
But meanwhile his country ranks among the top destinations for stolen assets from African countries.
Nigeria and ex-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 this week in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, the heads of anticorruption 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 vowed on Friday 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 and called for investment in anticorruption agencies to “trace, recover and return assets.”
Commonwealth SecretaryGeneral Patricia Scotland said Africa is losing tens of billions of dollars annually to corruption, urging 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 as part of his 2019 reelection campaign.
Buhari’s anti-graft chief Ebrahim Magu claimed earlier this year that his agency has recovered over 500 billion naira ($1.3 billion) in illicit funds.
But the government’s fight against corruption has been accused of being politically motivated.
Commonwealth adviser Roger Koranteng told AFP that leaders at the summit want a regional approach to recovery of stolen assets.
They pledged in a joint statement to encourage African countries to commit to greater corporate transparency and called for investment in anti-corruption agencies.