It is reported that Africa loses an estimated $88 billion annually to illicit financial flows alone, a structural drain compounded by fragmented capital markets and perennial underinvestment that has long denied the continent the resources to fund its own development.
African Currents interviewed Ugandan economist Dr. Fred Muhumuza, a senior lecturer at the School of Economics, College of Business and Management Sciences at Makerere University. He discussed the need for a unified financial system and common currency in Africa to promote cross-border trade, reduce transaction costs, and strengthen the continent’s geopolitical bargaining power in global trade.
"A common African currency would free us from the global turbulence and global manipulations of trade, of political systems and make trade more predictable, more reliable, more simpler, which is the real basis for why a common currency should be running here on the continent [...]. Deliberate financing is going to be needed for this particular vision and dream to become a reality. And that's the only way Africa will progress with versatility, with resilience, with stamina, but also with the clout to say, 'Here comes Africa. Africa is talking,"' Dr. Muhumuza noted.
Catch the full discussion on the African Currents podcast, presented by Sputnik Africa.
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