The African Union Commission said that blocking illicit financial outflow from Africa and repatriating the funds were important in financing the Sustainable Development Goals on the continent. The AU Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Dr Anthony Maruping, said this at a news conference at the ninth joint Annual Meeting of the AU Specialised Technical Committee for Ministers of Finance and Economic Planning.

The conference was organised by the AU in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

The theme of the conference is: “Towards an integrated and coherent approach to implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Agenda 20163 and the SDGs.”

NAN also recalls that Agenda 2063 is a 20-goal Action Plan for all segments of African society to work together to build a prosperous and united Africa based on shared values and destiny. The SDGs have 17 goals that follow and expand on the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

It is expected to be achieved by 2030.

Maruping said that the commision had estimated that about 246 billion dollars was required to half poverty and inequality in Africa, yet the continent loses an estimated 50 billion dollars annually to illicit financial flows. He stressed the commission’s stand to block this and use it to finance critical development projects that furthered the eradication of poverty and inequality in Africa.