As the G20 prepares to meet in Pittsburgh in the US at the end of this week, the leaders of the 20 major industrialised
countries are being exhorted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to deliver on the $1.1 trillion pledge – especially the $50
million earmarked for the poorest nations – made in London earlier this year. He also called on them to honour their official
development assistance (ODA) commitments made in Gleneagles, Scotland, in 2005, of $155 billion by next year, with over one-
third of that allotted for Africa.
For how long will others continue to beg for financial aid on behalf of Africa when the continent itself is rich in natural
resources that should safeguard its economic future? What Africans would like to hear from the G20 is how Western governments
would deal with the banks in which ill-gotten gains from Africa reside.
In the run-up to the London G20 meeting, there was much talk about tax havens. Now this is an issue that has been irking
Western governments because their citizens have been storing their money in tax havens, thus depriving their governments of
much needed revenue for development. Critics of tax havens have noted that they host private accounts of rich, corrupt or
criminal individuals wanting to escape taxes and regulations.
While Western governments are busy chasing banks in these tax havens to stop their citizens from salting money away, we have
not heard about how they could help African countries recover the billions of dollars of stolen funds that are in these
banks.
It is imperative that a solution is found to stop money looted from Africa being given a safe haven in foreign banks. It is
important because, to my mind, it is a major human rights issue. I’m talking about the fact that millions of Africans have
been deprived of their basic human rights because of funds that should have been used to improve their standards of living
being diverted to foreign banks. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which celebrated 60 years of existence last year,
provides some guidance here. It spells out the civil and political rights of individuals as well as their social and economic
rights. Well, I want to talk about economic and social rights, which are governed by the International Covenant on Social and
Cultural Rights (ICSCR). This was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966 and came into force in 1976.
It holds countries that have committed themselves to the covenant to grant economic and labour rights, rights to health,
education and an adequate standard of living to individuals. But what we have in many African countries today is that these
rights are barely existent. Why? Because the money that should go towards meeting these basic rights, is nestling in illegal
accounts in foreign banks.
Thus, if Africans are denied their right to an adequate standard of living; denied their right to social security; denied
their right to food; denied their right to adequate housing; denied their right to health; denied their right to education,
then those responsible are committing a crime against humanity. It is clear that the guilty parties are those who steal state
money in Africa and the bankers who knowingly provide safe havens for these looted funds.
How can foreign bankers sleep at night when in Angola, a very rich country in terms of its natural resources, some 260
children out of 1,000 die before they reach the age of five? And most of these deaths are caused by diseases that are
preventable. If a properly funded health service is in place in Angola these children wouldn’t have died from preventable
diseases.
It is the same scenario in most African countries in the health, education and social services sectors. Money is just not
available to make life a little better for citizens because the funds have been looted by civil servants and politicians and
sent to banks abroad. Why aren’t Western governments taking more robust action to stop the illegal flight of much needed
funds from Africa?
So, while the G20 leaders would be talking about saving the global economy they would have missed the point about human
rights, which are central to the way we live today. Do they realise that because of the skewed nature of globalisation, 54
countries are poorer than they were 10 years ago?
Let’s face it. We are not just talking about the financial sector, which has been the cause of the global financial crisis.
We are also talking about companies that are taking advantage of weak governance in developing countries such as those in
Africa to deprive citizens of their human rights.
Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland, who is now campaigning for human rights among international businesses, hit
the nail on the head when she spoke at a Responsible Leadership Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland in February. “In a world so
deeply divided between rich and poor, North and South, religious and secular, us and them, we need more than ever common
values – a ‘common standard of achievement’ as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights puts it,” she said.
“All of us need tools to hold governments accountable for their performance. The Universal Declaration, which has been
affirmed and reaffirmed by governments for more than half a century, is central to that cause.”
How right she is. The leaders at the G20 summit must address the issue of human rights and the financial crisis. African
countries do not need leaders posturing on the world stage. They want world leaders – more so those in whose jurisdictions
where there are tax havens – to act against the bankers who are denying Africans their basic human rights.
Where are the African civil society organisations that preach human rights? Might they not think it wise to start some human
rights action against foreign banks that harbour stolen funds from Africa in the wake of the G20 summit?
I think there is a case to answer here. International mechanisms, such as the World Bank Stolen Assets Recovery initiative,
are in existence these days for action to be taken against rogue bankers who collude with others to deprive Africa of much
needed funds.
Desmond Davies is Editor of African Prospects, a monthly digital magazine. [email protected]
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