The African Development Bank (AfDB) has sounded the alarm over the scale of financial leakages draining the continent, estimating that Africa loses more than $580 billion every year through corruption and illicit capital outflows. The losses, the Bank warns, continue to weaken economic progress while worsening the continent’s debt crisis.
AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina disclosed the figures in an interview with Bloomberg, stressing that the magnitude of the outflows now surpasses Africa’s own capacity to fund its infrastructure and development needs. The continent’s overall debt burden is nearing $2 trillion, raising questions about the sustainability of external borrowing in the face of such persistent financial drain.
“It doesn’t matter how much water you pour into a bucket if the bucket is leaking,” Adesina said, likening corruption and illicit transfers to a hole undermining Africa’s development efforts. “If you’re able to reduce the leakages to illicit capital, also corruption and all of these things, Africa will be able to keep a lot of these resources and meet the amount of infrastructure it needs.”
Illicit financial flows in Africa often stem from practices such as tax evasion, trade misinvoicing, money laundering, and the siphoning of public funds. Economists argue that curbing these practices would free up vast resources for roads, energy, schools, and healthcare—areas where funding gaps remain enormous.
Adesina’s warning comes at a time when many African governments are struggling under the weight of rising debt service costs, limited access to global credit markets, and depreciating local currencies. The AfDB has long advocated for stronger governance, accountability, and transparency measures to close the leakages and strengthen domestic revenue mobilization.
The figures underscore a sobering reality: without curbing corruption and illicit outflows, Africa risks undermining its own economic future, even as it seeks new partnerships and investments to fuel growth.
Do you want me to also frame this piece with comparisons to global figures (e.g., how Africa’s outflows compare to other emerging regions) to give readers a clearer perspective on the scale of the problem?
