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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, New York
The National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer, African Union Development Agency – New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) Nigeria, Gloria Akobundu, has warned that illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) have significant negative impact towards realising the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and African Union Agenda 2063 ‘Africa We Want’, hence the need for collective efforts of all stakeholders in fighting the menace.
She gave the warning on Friday, at the High-level Side event on the Margin of the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, organised by AUDA-NEPAD in collaboration with Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Nigeria.
The event, themed ‘Food Security Response: Combatting Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) and Securing Asset Returns for Sustainable Development, was attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, his counterparts from the continent, as well as strategic stakeholders in Socio-economic development.
According to Akobundu, despite abundant human and mineral resources, Africa’s large infrastructure gaps remain unfilled due to annual losses of billions of dollars to IFFs.
According to a statement by In a statement by Media Assistant to NC/CEO,
AUDA-NEPAD/APRM Nigeria, Abolade Ogundimu, he quoted Akobundu as saying: “Africa loses about $88.6 billion, annually in Illicit Financial Flows, which cripples Infrastructural development, especially in agriculture and food security.
“Recognising that combating IFFs is an essential development challenge, the United Nations passed a Resolution adopted by the 75th UNGA on Promotion of international cooperation to combat the menace and strengthen good practices on asset returns to foster sustainable development,” she recalled.
Akobundu, who gave some backgrounds to the theme of the 77th UNGA’s special side event, said: “About 500 million Smallholder Farmers produce more than 80 percent of the food consumed in large parts of the developing world thereby contributing to food security and poverty reduction.
“Recently, the global food systems have been affected by population growth, unavailability and inaccessibility of arable land, poor water resources management, climate change, loss of biodiversity, conflicts, and above all Covid-19 pandemic, these factors trigger food insecurity, which calls for urgent attention.
“If Africa’s population and land space are productively harnessed, it’s challenges will not only be addressed but turned around for world economic boost and sustainable development,” she said.
AUDA-NEPAD boss lauded African Leaders for declaring 2022 as the Year of Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the Continent.
She said “it was in recognition of the need to address these challenges, which cannot be achieved without adequate financing.”
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Akobundu also shared Nigeria’s experience and efforts in ensuring food security and eliminating IFFs.
“The aggressive Revolutional Agricultural Policy of President Muhammadu Buhari- led government has yielded great results in Nigeria’s Food Systems through various interventions and reforms which help in strengthening Smallholder Farmers, among others.
“The Government of Nigeria is doing its best to reduce poverty in the country, but with a population of more than 200 million people and over 60% of this falls within the youth bracket.
“There are tendencies for communities to be exposed to insecurity, restiveness, trafficking, migration, malnutrition among others, hence the need to put deliberate measures in place to forestall their occurrences.
“Under his government, Nigeria committed 4 million Hectares towards the restoration of degraded lands on the AFR100 initiative.
“The ongoing Smallholder Farmers Project is poised to restoring one million Hectares of land because smallholder farmers significantly contribute to global food,” she said.
AUDA-NEPAD boss also extended appreciation to members of Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council for supporting AUDA-NEPAD programmes in the country, while also lauded EFCC and other Departments and Agencies for consistent partnership on its anti-corruption campaigns and other flagship programmes.
“The call for global financing and returns of Illicit funds to strengthen the food responses align with African Union- Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP),” she noted.
Addressing the gathering, President Buhari said his government financed 2.5 million smallholder farmers cultivating about 3.2 million hectares of farmland across the country while also created 10 million direct and indirect jobs.
He said the efforts resulted in a significant decline in the country’s large food import bill, from $2.2 billion in 2014 to $5.9 million at the end of 2018,” he said.
It will be recalled that AUDA-NEPAD Nigeria and EFCC have been organising the Special since the 73rd UNGA.
Also, Akobundu-led AUDA-NEPAD Nigeria launched Initiative Strengthening of Smallholder Farmers Capabilities for Productive Land Restoration amid COVID-19 pandemic.
The event was attended by Nigerian State Governors, Chief of Staff to President Ibrahim Gambari, Nigerian Ministers, heads of parastatals, funding and strategic partners, representatives of heads of nations,media and other sstakeholders.
