Keypoints:
- Africa loses $40bn annually to extractive sector IFFs
- Export of raw materials exporting jobs
- Call for unity, reforms, and reparatory justice
AFRICA is bleeding an estimated $40bn every year due to illicit financial flows (IFFs) in the extractive industries—losses that not only erode developmental progress but also deepen economic injustice across the continent, a senior UN official has warned.
Antonio Pedro, Deputy Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), issued the warning on May 30, 2025 in New York during a High-Level Policy Dialogue concluding this year’s Africa Dialogue Series (ADS), themed Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.
The forum, co-organised by the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa and the African Union’s Permanent Observer Mission to the UN, brought together global leaders and experts to confront the economic and political legacies of exploitation.
Colonial structures still haunt Africa’s economy
Pedro noted that Africa’s overdependence on exporting unprocessed raw materials—a model rooted in colonial exploitation—was still driving underdevelopment. He argued that by exporting its natural resources in raw form, Africa is effectively exporting jobs, a luxury it cannot afford given the continent’s urgent need to create at least 20 million jobs each year for its growing youth population.
‘Illicit financial flows are not just accounting losses; they are a structural problem deeply tied to Africa’s extractivist economic model,’ Pedro said. ‘We are robbing ourselves of the opportunity to build industries, retain wealth, and invest in our people.’
Frameworks exist but must be activated
Pedro cited key continental strategies such as the African Mining Vision and the African Green Minerals Strategy as essential instruments to drive industrialisation, value addition, and job creation. But he stressed that having frameworks on paper is not enough—what’s needed now is action.
‘Operationalising these strategies is critical if Africa is to ensure its mineral wealth contributes to economic emancipation, local development and a just global order,’ he said.
He further urged African governments to promote local content in mining contracts and push for systemic reforms in international financial and governance institutions that currently enable resource-related IFFs.
Unity, coherence and sustainable action needed
Calling for unity, Pedro emphasised the need for African nations to consolidate their positions and present a common front on the global stage. He stressed the importance of crafting and implementing integrated policies across sectors—mining, energy, infrastructure, trade and diplomacy—to ensure coherence and transformational change.
‘It is a shared responsibility,’ he said. ‘Governments, mining companies, communities, and financial institutions must work together to ensure extractive industries serve people, not just profits.’
Reparatory justice is part of the solution
Pedro praised the 2025 Africa Dialogue Series for spotlighting reparatory justice as a cornerstone for a fairer world system. He argued that Africa’s path to justice must include tackling the root causes of IFFs while pressing for reparations.
‘By addressing systemic financial injustices and embracing sustainable development, we can unlock Africa’s full potential and build a more equitable global order,’ Pedro concluded.
The Africa Dialogue Series remains one of the most significant UN platforms for discussing critical issues affecting Africa and its global diaspora.
