Plugging the leaks: AfDB urges action as Africa loses $580B annually

Africa is hemorrhaging over $580 billion every year through corruption and illicit financial outflows,according to the African Development Bank (AfDB),jeopardizing economic growth and worsening the continent’s nearly $2 trillion debt crisis.

AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina,speaking in a recent Bloomberg interview,likened the situation to pouring water into a leaking bucket — “It doesn’t matter how much water you pour into a bucket if the bucket is leaking.” He emphasized that unless Africa curbs these financial leakages — estimated at $1.6 billion daily — the continent will remain trapped in a cycle of underdevelopment and debt dependency. The losses break down into $90 billion annually in illicit financial flows,$275 billion from profit-shifting by multinational corporations,and $148 billion through corruption. These staggering figures eclipse the aid and foreign investment Africa receives,while undermining progress on infrastructure,job creation,and public services.

Africa faces an infrastructure financing gap of up to $170 billion each year,according to a Bloomberg report. However,rising debt-service costs — now the highest since the early 2000s — are crowding out essential investments. Alarmingly,more than half of African countries spend more on interest payments than on public health. While concessional financing and debt restructuring are important,Adesina stressed that halting illicit outflows remains the single most effective step toward sustainable development. “If you’re able to reduce the leakages to illicit capital,also corruption and all of these things,Africa will be able to keep a lot of these resources and meet the amount of infrastructure it needs,” Adesina concluded.