Date
A step forward in stopping illicit financial flows in the mining sector
Yaoundé, June 21st, 2019, Cameroon launches Stop the Bleeding Campaign to stop Illicit Financial Flows in the mining sector. More than 15 ministers, members of the private sector and civil society committed to signing STB’s call to action to stop IFFs. The campaign, that launched on June 21st, is on the same week as the commemoration of the United Nations International Day of Public Service. It will last until December with a final phase on December 9 and 10, the International Day of Fight against Corruption and Defend Human Rights.
The launch of Stop the Bleeding in Cameroon is based on a strategy with two flagship activities in June 2019:
• June 21st - a structured dialogue round table with the government in charge of developing the mining sector in Cameroon
• June 22nd - a mobilization of Cameroonian citizens against illicit financial flows.
CRADEC who hosted and organized the event in collaboration with Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), invited around 30 high-level guests to a roundtable discussion. The participants include heads of administrations in charge of the development of the mining sector, public finance, the economy, the private sector, the institutions of control, the parliamentarians and the media.
The round table discussion was animated in an atmosphere of encouraging constructive reflection to achieve Africa’s SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). A moderator managed the different articulations of partcipants as stakeholders exchanged ideas on how to better manage and report income from the mining sector.
Mr. Jean Mballa Mballa, Executive Director of CRADEC, said “It is important for Cameroon as part of Africa because; first it is a step forward to the implementation of the Special Declaration on the Conference on Illicit Financial Flows by Heads of State and government in Addis Abeba in January 2015, second the government of Cameroon is engaged in “Emergent Cameroon in 2035 Vision; with the loss of 11% of its Gross Domestic Product; as estimated by the High Level Panel on IFFs; it is a big challenge that appeal for any action to reduce the bleeding. With the Campaign we aim at sensitizing, generating on figures on IFFs and engaging with different stakeholders for effective strategy and policies on good national resources governance and effective development.”
CRADEC began the program of "Strengthening Tax Justice in Cameroon’’ with an objective to engage and support the Cameroonian government in adopting and implementing a more fair, equitable and responsible tax policy. More specifically, the program has made the choice to carry this advocacy in the mining sector, in connection with the country's commitments at both the national and continental levels.
To this end, one of the activities of the program focuses on monitoring the domestication of the African Mining Vision in Cameroon. In April 2019, CRADEC carried out a study with the aim of assessing tax regimes and the management of income from mining in Cameroon. CRADEC agrees with the AU that "It is essential to obtain a sufficient share of the revenue from the exploitation of mineral resources and to use it appropriately. An effective and transparent tax system should serve as a catalyst for the development of social, material and knowledge infrastructure"(VMA, 2009).
The Global Finance Integrity (GFI) report states that developing countries lost between $ 775 billion in 2009 in illicit financial flows. In addition, after adjusting for inflation, illicit financial flows increased by at least 10.2% over the 2000-2009 decade, with faster growth of illicit financial flows from Africa (22, 3%), followed by the Middle East and North Africa (19.6%), Europe (17.4%), Asia (6.2%), and the Western Hemisphere (4%).
The same report shows that multinational corporations take advantage of system failures and thus transfer illicit money to developed countries. They transfer most of the $ 15 trillion that they make each year to Africa.
Mballa Mballa who intends on getting as many signatures for this petition noted “Our engagement could be measured from the launching by collecting more than 500 signatures and then activating multi actor national platforms on IFFs.”