Browsing: UNCTAD

illicit capital flows

Curbing illicit capital flows could almost cut in half the annual financing gap of $200 billion that the continent faces to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals according to UNCTAD’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2020.

The report titled  “Tackling illicit financial flows for sustainable development in Africa,” notes that every single year an estimated $88.6 billion, equivalent to 3.7 per cent of Africa’s GDP, leaves the continent as illicit capital flight.

According to the report, Illicit financial flows (IFFs) are movements of money and assets across borders which are illegal in source, transfer or use. The outflows include illicit capital flight, tax and commercial practices like mis-invoicing of trade shipments and criminal activities such as illegal markets, corruption or theft.

As per the average for 2013 to 2015, the outflows are nearly as much as the combined total annual inflows of official development assistance, valued at $48 …

Economists define a recession as a subdued growth that lasts at least six months and goes for another 18 months while depression can last up to a decade. The global economy was already heading to a recession even before the outbreak and spread of COVID-19.

What has followed is global market players and governments pumping millions of dollars to contain the spread of the virus that has Wuhan city and its epicenter. The US and Europe have already announced setting up of special kitty to treat, contain and mitigate the effects of the virus both as a disease as well as the economic heat that comes with the disease.

China, the second-largest economy in the world and Italy- Europe’s third-largest economy and 8th globally- have been severely affected by cities like Rome remaining ghost-towns as economic and commercial activities come to a halt. There is a growing fear that the …

Anastacia Mukami sells fruits and vegetables at the Kiambu town market, a few kilometers north of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. Within a month, the price of cloves of garlic has almost doubled, currently selling at 35 shillings up from 15 shillings. This, she says has led to a reduction in the number of cloves she sells in a day as the supply from China becomes more scarce.

Just like the rest of the world, Kenya is reliant on garlic shipped from China, and with the Asian giant facing near lockdown, the supply to traders like Mukami is dwindling and the economic effects of goods from China is starting to be felt across the African continent. The Directorate of Horticulture says that Kenya imports over 50 percent of garlic from China, and some more from Tanzania.

It is not just garlic sellers that are facing a bleak and uncertain future. The eastern …

As part of the EU-UNCTAD joint Programme for Angola (Train for Trade II), and in support of Angola’s efforts to strengthen and diversify its economy towards more sustainable economic sectors, UNCTAD is organizing a training workshop for stakeholders from the coffee and tropical fruits value chains.

This will be the third training activity under UNCTAD’s National Green Export Review (NGER) process in Angola, and the second to be held outside the capital city.

The workshop is targeting government officials, producers, sector associations and academics from the northwestern provinces of Bengo, Cabinda, Kwanza-Norte, Malanje, Uíge and Zaire, which are among the country’s most favourable zones for coffee and tropical fruit production.

At the first NGER workshop in Angola, local stakeholders identified coffee and bananas among the green sectors with significant development potential. Moreover, Angola’s Programme to Support Production, Export Diversification and Import Substitution (PRODESI) included the coffee and banana value chains …

Africa escaped the global decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) as flows to the continent rose to US$46 billion in 2018, an increase of 11% on the previous year, according to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2019.

Growing demand for some commodities and a corresponding rise in their prices as well as the growth in non-resource-seeking investment in a few economies underpinned the rise.

While FDI in some large economies on the continent – such as Nigeria and Egypt – contracted, this was outweighed by a surge in flows to others, most significantly, South Africa.

“The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement will bolster regional cooperation. This, along with upbeat growth prospects, augurs well for FDI flows to the continent,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said. (https://bluffsrehab.com)

FDI flows to Sub-Saharan Africa climbed by 13% to $32 billion, recovering ground after successive contractions in the two prior years. …