Thabo Mbeki to chair ECA-AU high-level talks on illicit financial flows

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is to chair a high-level meeting on illicit financial flows.

Mr Mbeki who chairs the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union (AU) High Level Panel (HLP) on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, is expected to hold talks with Zambian President Michael Sata to enhance dialogue and policy discourse on the matter, in Lusaka, Zambia

The meeting starts June 17 to 18, 2013.

The level of illicit financial outflows from Africa is said to have exceeded the official development assistance to the continent, which stood at $46.1 billion in 2012, according to the ECA.

Over 60 delegates comprising key stakeholders from East and Southern Africa are expected to attend the regional consultation on the issue, according to the ECA.

The Panel was set up in February 2012 to address the problem of illicit financial outflows from Africa which is estimated at $50 billion a year.

Illicit financial flows constitute, among others, undocumented commercial transactions and criminal activities characterized by over pricing, tax evasion and false declarations facilitated by some 60 international tax havens and secrecy jurisdictions.

By Ekow Quandzie