By Emmanuel Elebeke
The Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, ANAN, has said that Africa is losing more than $50 billion every year in illicit financial outflows as governments and multinational companies engage in fraudulent schemes aimed at avoiding tax payments to some of the world’s poorest countries, impeding development projects and denying poor people access to crucial services.
Speaking at the ANAN’s International Fraud Summit, Chairman of the summit, Prof. Adebayo Adejola, stated: “Africa is losing more than $50billion every year in illicit financial outflows as governments and multinational companies engage in fraudulent schemes aimed at avoiding tax payments to some of the world’s poorest countries, impeding development projects and denying poor people access to crucial services.
“A great need of the moment in the fight against fraud is the need of leaders who can neither be bought nor sold, leaders who in their inmost souls are true and honest, and are true to their duties as the needle to the pole, leaders who will stand for the truth, even though the heavens fall.”
For Africa to be free from misappropriation embezzlement, diversion of funds, bribery, gratification, using office or position for unfair advantage, Prof. Adejola said financial frauds, business frauds, graft agencies like EFCC, ICPC etc have major roles to play.
Earlier in his remarks, the President and Chairman of Council of ANAN, Rev. Canon Benjamin Osisioma, said the pervasiveness and destructiveness of fraud and corruption in most part of the world, particularly in Africa informed the need for the Association to put the summit together, with a view to driving sustainable economic development agenda for Africa.