President Jonathan wants Africa to check outflow of illicit funds from the continent

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said that Africa need to check the huge funds being illegally taken out of the continent. 
President said that the amount of illicit money goes out of Africa illegally could solve its desperate infrastructure problems.
He spoke to a delegation of the United Nations' high level panel on illicit financial flows from Africa, at the State House, Abuja, on Monday
'The huge funds being illicitly taken out of Africa can solve our infrastructural and other problems, so we must look within and check this haemorrhage,'
 he stated.
Jonathan said Africa 'needs robust assistance from the developed world' to check this outflow, because 'corruption would be minimised if there are no 
places to hide the illicit funds.'
He challenged oil refineries worldwide to ask questions about the source of the crude they refined, adding that the administration was taking steps to 
check crude oil theft from Nigeria.
The president called on the panel to carry out comprehensive study of the issue and produce a template that would help the continent combat the menace.
Earlier, Mr Thabo Mbeki, former president of South Africa and chairman of the UN panel, said the continent currently lose at least $50 billion every 
year through illicit fund flows, adding that the panel was determined to study the problem and propose solutions.
In another development, President Jonathan, on Monday, challenged banks in the country to fund infrastructure development in Africa.
He gave the charge while receiving the Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Ecobank Transnational Inc, Mr Thierry Tanoh, at 
the State House, Monday.
According to him, 'We need banks that can fund infrastructure development in Africa. For instance, we should not go to Europe before coming to 
neighbouring countries, because our transport infrastructure is weak.'