“We are losing a lot of this capital that we need as a result of everything we throw out of the continent through illegal means and there is an estimate that the continent loses annually at least fifty billion dollars every year through illicit capital outflow,” he said.
If this is an accurate estimate, then Africa loses as much money in “illicit capital outflow” as it brings in via Diaspora remittances. The latest estimates from the The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) put that figure at $60 billion. That means that Africa’s net gain in foreign direct investment is only $35 billion.
If you were to reduce the corrupt outflow to $25 billion, you could conclude that the effectiveness of international aid would be a zero sum. $25 billion coming in and $25 billion going out.
This would leave remittances to carry the burden of development. Only problem is, we need to harness the Diaspora billions into capital investments rather than shoring up consumptive behavior.
Hat tip to @theoDJager and @niyimic
