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By Merit Ibe
The Institute of Directors Centre for Corporate Governance (IoDCCG) has tasked stakeholders to tackle the menace of illicit financial flow considering the harm it has done to the economy through endemic corruption occasioned by money laundering and terrorism financing.
Its Chairman, Shuaibu Idris , made the statement at a stakeholders’ roundtable on a public/private sector dialogue on strengthening Anti-Money Laundering/Countering Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows in Nigeria and West Africa,’ held in Lagos recently.
At the programme organised by the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), USA, and IoDCCG, Idris noted that tackling illicit financial flows was a matter of survival for Africa’s development, adding that the continent had lost much in terms of gross domestic product.
“Africa not only loses about five per cent of continental GDP annually to illicit capital flights but the proliferation of illicit financial flows enables terrorist activity and insecurity from the Lake Chad region which includes Nigeria spanning the Sahel region.
“The losses to economic growth, trade opportunities and social development are therefore unquantifiable. This constitutes a drain on Africa’s foreign exchange reserves, reduces efforts to enhance domestic resource mobilisation, contracts investment inflows and contributes to low social development indicators including poverty and inequality,” he said.
“It is a collective responsibility and a priority for the private sector, civil society and government to address systemic challenges and gaps undermining the efforts to curb IFF and ML/TF including lack of transparency, weak accountability mechanisms, under capacity, resource mismatch and others that can be identified through dialogue and strategic engagements on this nature.”
Idris who was elated by the choice of panelists and moderators, said at the end, resolutions that would touch on the major elements of discourse would be brought to the fore and the Centre will proceed to the next level.
He commended CIPE and the IoDCCG’s management for “championing events such as this which lends credence to the propagation of sound corporate governance principles and practices, been the core mandate of the centre.”
He said the Centre is committed to promoting and improving good corporate governance standards in Nigeria through advocacy, advisory services, research and high-quality training for board members and executives in public and private sector organisations.
He added that the centre was putting together series of activities in the coming months including the maiden edition of National Corporate Governance Summit, which will hold on July 26 to 27, 2022 in Lagos.
