The African Union (AU) reforms champion President William Ruto of Kenya has raised concerns about illicit financial flows, which he said undermine African governments’ ability to deliver services, but linked the problem to weakened social contracts between governments and their citizens and called for stronger global cooperation in asset recovery and international tax reforms.
He cited the African Development Bank’s African Economic Outlook 2024, which estimates the continent needs to close an annual financing gap of $402.2 billion by 2030 to achieve its transformation goals. He noted that domestic resource mobilisation remains the ‘most reliable, predictable and timely’ source of funding.
