ADDIS ABABA, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has called for further efforts to curb illicit financial flows out of Africa, which is estimated at up to 80 billion U.S. dollars per year.
In his remarks during the ongoing 29th AU summit being held June 27-July 4 in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, Abdalla Hamdok, Acting Executive Secretary of UNECA, said curtailing illicit financial flows is imperative for the implementation of Agenda 2030 and 2063.
Given the scale of the matter and the negative impact it has on Africa's development and governance agenda, the issue of illicit financial outflow is no longer just a continental agenda but also an international one, he said.
Hamdok underlined the need to do more despite tangible steps taken on the continent to curb illicit financial flows.
He revealed that currently a consortium comprised of pan-African institutions has been inaugurated and tasked to tackle the problem. Meanwhile, a campaign dubbed "stop the bleeding" was jointly carried out by the UNECA and AU commission.
The official also called for appropriate measures to address migration in Africa, which is dominated by intra-Africa migration.
He has mentioned statistics from the International Organization of Migration (IOM) that there are an estimated 7.5 million West African migrants within West Africa compared to 1.2 million in North America and Europe combined.
The UNECA official noted that if properly addressed, it could contribute to poverty eradication, job creation and economic transformation.
"We must therefore place migration at the top of the policy agenda," he said, adding the issue calls for a variety of measures, which include the development of a framework that can lead to effective sharing of responsibilities and firm partnership to promote well-managed migration.
