Fight Against Corruption Is Key To National Development – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has spoken about the increasing security challenges in Africa.

He said the reason for the rise in crimes is the heartlessness of those profiting from illegal financial activities.

He added that his administration has “recorded successes even though the perpetrators are not giving up and are trying to fight back.”

Speaking at the opening session of the 16th Conference of the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA), Buhari said development and stability in Africa has been hampered by illicit outflows estimated to be about 60 billion US dollars annually.

His words, “Frankly, we may never know the true extent of the damage. Estimates, however, suggest that African countries lose over 60 billion US dollars annually due to illicit financial outflows, a staggering amount for a continent in dire need of development finance.

“Corroborating this figure, a United Nations Report on ‘Illicit Financial Flows and the Problem of Net Resource Transfers from Africa: 1980-2009,’ observed that during the period 1980 to 2009 between $1.2 trillion and $1.4trillion was taken out of Africa. This figure is half of the current Gross Domestic Products of all the countries of Africa.”

“Criminals and their collaborators cheat the system through various practices, including trade mis-pricing, trade mis-invoicing, tax abuse and evasion, as well as money laundering. Several unfair commercial agreements and illegal resource extraction by multinational companies, in cahoots with their local collaborators, also create routes for illicit financial outflows.

“As partners in the fight against crime and insecurity, you know that terrorist networks, organized criminal syndicates of drugs, arms and human traffickers and sundry hostile non-state actors are actively undermining the security and stability of our countries.”

“My role as African Union’s Anti-Corruption Champion brought me closer to appreciating more the devastating impact of corruption and illicit financial outflows on our continent.

“I am, therefore, pleased that this conference will boost the sense of urgency that we collectively have about this devastation and raise our response capacity at operational levels. In Nigeria, we have risen to the challenge. The fight against corruption remains at the core of our efforts to accelerate national development. We have recorded successes even though the perpetrators are not giving up and are trying to fight back.”