The tough task of stopping illicit financial flows and returning stolen assets is being complicated by slow progress and waning US leadership. When public officials steal millions from state coffers, it’s ordinary people who suffer. In Nigeria, for example, patients seeking treatment at understaffed hospitals fail to receive proper care, said David Ugolor, executive director of the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ). The lack of money to repair classrooms means fewer children in school, while roads that go unrepaired increase the risk of traffic accidents. The problem in Nigeria, Ugolor said, “has gone beyond corruption – it’s state capture”. That means corrupt elites not only steal money but twist the law to maintain control. “And it’s deepening inequality and poverty in the country,” he said. Each year, Africa loses almost $90 billion (CHF72 billion) as corrupt officials and criminals send their ill-gotten gains out of the continent, the United Nations ...
