Two years after it was formed, only seven African countries and the US have joined the Partnership on Illicit Finance (PIF).

Established at the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in July 2014, the partnership aims to bring together countries committed to tackling corruption and develop strategies to eliminate opportunities for illicit finance.

Momentum needed

So far, the only African countries signed up to the partnership are Burkina Faso, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

Now the partnership is looking to build momentum, and held a side event to launch national action plans on illicit financial flows at the recent 51st Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Zambia in May.

National action plans

Under the PIF, which is supported by the AfDB, countries are developing and implementing tailored national action plans to combat illicit finance.

These plans aim to guide country-specific action to fight illicit finance stemming from corruption and other crimes and reinforce efforts to build developing countries’ capacity to mobilise domestic resources and attract private sector investment.

Countries’ national action plans are being posted on the African Development Bank website here.

So far, only Senegal and the US have posted national action plans.