Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo, has charged African governments to put in place measures to put an end to foreign illicit financial transactions and tax evasion by multinationals.

The situation, according to President Akufo-Addo, is denying the continent the needed tax revenue and development.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the 57th Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank in Accra, the President stressed the need for African governments to also grow their domestic economies without interference from external controls.

“[The]Time has come to move towards an economic module which serves our interest and not others. Profits from our resources have benefited foreign creditors for far too long, while we suffer on the international capital market. It is time we worked to address and remove the structural barrier to our development.”

“We must also deal with tax dodging and illegitimate commercial transactions by multinationals, which account for 60% of the $88 billion of illicit financial outflows from the continent annually.

The 57th African Development Bank (AfDB) Annual General Meetings which have begun at the Accra International Conference Centre, will set the agenda for Africa’s transformation and recovery from the current economic challenges facing the continent amid the ongoing pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war.