The AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) in its recent session said that illicit financial flows are fueling other threats to the peace, security and stability of the continent, including terrorism and violent extremism, according to a statement Thursday.
Noting that illicit financial flows undermine the continent’s efforts to mobilize domestic financial resources, as well as Africa’s peace and security agenda to silence guns by 2020, the council underscored the need to find best means of recovering all financial resources that are illicitly taken out of the continent.
The council called for member states to strengthen and improve governance, combat corruption, invest more in addressing the problems of tax evasions and tax heavens, secrecy jurisdictions, anonymous companies, under-invoicing of trade transactions, as well as trade-based money laundering, said the statement.
It also urged efforts for building the capacity of financial intelligence units, law enforcement agencies and the entire criminal justice system, as well as harmonizing national legislations with relevant international instruments for combating illicit financial flows and money laundering.
The council, which underscored the importance of intelligence sharing and enchanced international cooperation in combating illicit financial flows, also called for efforts to use regional integration arrangements to introduce accepted standards for tax incentives so as to prevent harmful competition when attracting foreign direct investments. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
