Nigeria accounts for about 68.1 percent of the total revenue Africa is losing annually as a result of illegal transfer of revenues abroad, a new report states, according to an online newswire.
The report of the Thabo Mbeki High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa adopted on Sunday by African Union Heads of State and Government at their summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia said about $40.9 billion (about N6.87 trillion) of an estimated $60 billion (about N10.08 trillion) lost through such transfers from Africa are traced to Nigeria.
The funds are stolen through corruption, tax evasion and illegal transfer of profits by multinationals, the AU said.
Nigeria, which produces an average of 2.3 million barrels of oil daily as the leading hydrocarbon producer in Africa, is being ravaged by poverty and underdevelopment.
The report also identified Egypt and Morocco as the other countries with the largest estimates of illicit financial flows of $28.2 billion and $20.3 billion, respectively.
Cumulatively, Nigeria and Egypt topped the list of ten African countries by illicit financial transfers between 1970 and 2008, with $217.7 billion (about N36.57 trillion), or 30.5 percent, and $105.2 billion (about N17.67trillion), or 14.7 percent, respectively, while South Africa had $81.8 billion (about N13.74 trillion), or 11.4 percent
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