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CISLAC Says Nigeria Loses $18Bn Yearly to Illicit Financial Flows

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Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, executive director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre
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Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, executive director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), on Monday, expressed grave displeasure over the endemic corruption ravaging Nigeria which has led to loss of $18 billion yearly to illicit financial flows (IFFs).

CISLAC Says Nigeria Loses $18Bn Yearly to Illicit Financial Flows

Mr. Rafsanjani who doubles as Head of Transparency International (TI) Nigeria in a statement titled: ‘Repositioning the EFCC for effective and transparency in anti-corruption war in Nigeria’, however, observed that Nigeria was been ranked as one of the 23 countries that were ranked by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as non-cooperative in the combined efforts to fight money laundering globally, since its establishment in 2003.

Mr. Rafsanjani who expressed concern over the alleged corruption being perpetuated within the banking sector, argued that: “Despite the powers of and the checks that have been put in place by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN and other relevant institutions regulating the sector, it appears that the system is being manipulated as Nigeria loses between $15 – 18 billion annually to illicit financial flows (IFFs).

“The banking sector has been largely implicated in money laundering where they have been instrumental in the initial entry or placement phase that involves the initial movement of an amount of money earned from criminal activity into some legitimate financial network or institution.

“This illicit act embedded into a legal trade has pervaded both the national and international business and banking industry with unabated vigor. In 2021, a directive was issued by the then chairman of the Commission, for operators in the Nigerian financial system, particularly bankers to declare their assets as from June 1, 2021.

“That directive was rightly in line with Sections 1 and 7 of the Bank Employees, etc. (Declaration of Assets) Act 1986, which compelled Bank Employees to make full disclosure of assets within fourteen days and provides a 10-year imprisonment sentence on conviction for offenses of unjust enrichment, respectively.

“Sustaining this initiative will ensure adequate measures in sanitizing the nation’s financial system by helping to prevent money laundering and illicit financial flows (IFFs) through which terrorism is largely funded, to effectively tax bank executives, and to expose illegal financial transactions.”

While noting that these inadequacies persist, he underscored the need to ensure that the provisions of the EFCC (Establishment) Act satisfy public and standard expectations for eligibility of a nominated Chairman and meet the purpose for which a financial crimes institution should be set up.

The CISLAC helmsman also urged the Commission to ensure that it “conducts thorough investigations of all public officers and politically exposed persons (PEP) named in the Pandora papers, Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Genko scandal and FinCEN Files while those found guilty be made to face the full wrath of the law as a deterrent to others.

 

 

 

 


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GSK to Slash Cost of Malaria Jab to Less than $5

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The manufacturers of the world’s first malaria vaccine are set to slash the price by more than half by 2028 to less than$5 per dose.

GSK to Slash Cost of Malaria Jab to Less than $5

The manufacturers of the shot, known as RTS,S, said a phased reduction in cost would begin immediately, with an ultimate aim to reduce the price to less than $5.

The announcement could hardly come at a more critical moment.

Gavi, a major vaccination initiative which funds immunisations in the world’s poorest countries, is facing a major budget crunch.

In Brussels on Wednesday, Gavi’s replenishment event raised $9 billion to fund immunisation programmes over the next five years. While this sounds like a huge sum, it’s significantly less than the $11.9bn the group had been aiming for.

Governments around the world are cutting development spending dramatically.

The UK, for instance, cut its contribution to Gavi by 40 per cent in real terms, telling The Telegraph it was prioritising defence, while the US has pledged nothing at all.

Though America previously gave Gavi roughly $300m a year, the country’s new health secretary claimed without evidence that the organisation was ignoring vaccine safety.

The announcement from the British pharmaceutical giant GSK and Indian drugmaker Bharat Biotech will therefore be a relief to those trying to balance the books.

In a statement the companies said the price reduction demonstrated their “commitment to Gavi”, and was “driven by process improvements, expanded production capacity, cost-effective manufacturing, and minimal profit margins”.

By the time the price has fallen to below $5 per dose, a technology transfer agreement means Bharat will have taken over production, though GSK will continue to supply the adjuvant piece of the shot.

“For us, this is more than a cooperation, it’s a promise,” said Dr Krishna Ella, executive chairman of Bharat Biotech International Limited.

“By joining forces with GSK, and working closely with Gavi, and the WHO [World Health Organization], we are taking a real step toward closing the gap between vaccine supply and the urgent needs of children at risk of malaria.”

Each year, malaria still kills 500,000 people – the vast majority of them children aged five and under in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to WHO estimates, cases and deaths fell significantly between 2000 and 2015, but progress has since stalled.

Some have high hopes that RTS,S, as well as another vaccine called R21 developed by Oxford University, could prove critical in efforts to turn the tide.

In clinical trials, RTS,S reduced hospitalisations for severe malaria by 30 per cent.

But critics say the shot is too expensive and not as effective as existing tools, such as bed nets and antimalarials.

The reduction in price will bring it more in line with the cost of R21, which is priced at around $4 per dose.

Yet the cost will still add up, as both jabs require multiple shots. For RTS,S, this means four doses – the first three doses are given monthly, starting around five months of age, while the fourth dose is administered 15-18 months later.

Both jabs “provide reasonable short term efficacy – over about a year – so are a useful addition to other measures,” said Professor Nick White, a professor at the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit who specialises in malaria.

“In the past GSK had limited production capacity – one of the reasons the R21 was developed. So reducing the price will be good and the two comparable vaccines can fight it out in the market place.”

A spokesperson for Gavi said the alliance’s goal is to “create sustainable demand backed by predictable financing so that companies – like GSK and Bharat – can continue investing in technology transfer and other efficiencies that bring down costs, thus making critical vaccines more available and affordable.

GSK’s decision to lower its prices, the spokesperson added, is “an important step for the global malaria vaccination programme, and our ability to make this lifesaving tool more widely available to those who need it the most”.

Gavi plans to help fund RTS,S in 12 African countries by the end of this year.

Previously, GSK has said it will supply up to 18 million vaccine doses between 2023 and the end of this year.

The company plans to supply 15 million doses annually from 2026-2028, a spokesperson told Reuters.


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Rack Centre Signs Collocation Deal with TelCables Nigeria

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Rack Centre, West Africa’s Tier III carrier- and cloud-neutral data centre, has struck a collocation agreement with TelCables Nigeria, an Angola Cables subsidiary.

TelCables Nigeria is delivering its high-capacity network and cloud infrastructure, as well as four international subsea cable systems (SACS, MONET, SEBRAS, and EllaLink), directly into Rack Centre’s regional carrier ecosystem as part of the agreement.

According to Angola Cables, the move provides reliable, low-latency south-bound routes to Europe, the Americas, and Latin America, reducing the danger of future cable disruptions along West Africa’s coast and enabling next-generation cloud services across the continent.

“Our unique Africa – to – Latin America route via SACS, combined with MONET, SEBRAS and EllaLink, gives customers the lowest – latency paths to the Americas and Europe,” said Fernando Fernandes, CEO of TelCables Nigeria.

“Businesses in latency sensitive sectors: financial services, content delivery and real-time communications will experience faster transactions, reduced lag and an enhanced user experience.

“By hosting at Rack Centre we also localise Clouds2Africa resources, price them in naira, and remove expensive ingress/egress charges or FX exposure.”

Rack Centre said its 13.5MW data centre campus designed with its recently launched LGS2 facility that delivers a design PUE of 1.35 and powered from sustainable energy sources, already hosts 70+ carriers, ISPs and network operators.

Lars Johannisson, CEO of Rack Centre, commented: “Adding a global operator of Angola Cables’ calibre through TelCables Nigeria dramatically deepens our connectivity fabric.

“We can now offer 99.95 % SLA routes to more destinations, enabling enterprises, governments and cloud providers to meet performance and data-residency requirements while keeping traffic local.”

 


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Lagos Plastic Ban: MAN Warns of Job Losses, Closure of Businesses

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Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has expressed concerns over the impending ban on Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) by the Lagos State Ministry of Environment.

Lagos Plastic Ban:  MAN Warns of Job Losses, Closure of Businesses

It warned that it could lead to job losses and  and lead to economic, operational, and social consequences for manufacturers, traders, recyclers, and end users.

Segun Ajayi-Kadir, director general, MAN, in a statement called on the Lagos State government to reconsider the ban, citing a lack of credible data and stakeholder engagement.

According to Ajayi-Kadir, a recent study revealed that 100% of manufacturers surveyed expressed fears of job losses and workforce restructuring if the ban is implemented.

He said, “A recent MAN-supported study evaluating the possible impacts of the Lagos State SUPs ban revealed significant adverse economic, operational, and social implications across the value chain, from manufacturers to wholesalers, traders, and end users. It has been noted that only poor and developing countries often tilt towards plastic ban as a strategy to combat environmental problems.

“A hundred percent of the manufacturers consulted expressed concern over a ban-induced workforce restructuring. Thus, several jobs will be lost in the industry if this ban were to be implemented.

“It is noteworthy to mention that there is no form of arrangement for social protection for the employees who will lose their livelihoods as a result of this ban.

“Also, there has been no form of social dialogue on the part of the government with these workers or the industry on the potential job losses.”

According to him, findings showed that 89% of operators in the plastic value chain rely on SUPs as their primary source of income with no alternative source of livelihoods, over 75% of end users, including SMEs, depend on plastic packaging with no affordable or practical alternatives, and  93% of dealers, many of whom are women, reported no prior information or social support mechanisms to cushion the impact.

Ajayi-Kadir emphasised that banning SUPs would not resolve pollution issues but merely substitute one problem for another, especially without scalable alternatives or infrastructure to support the transition.

He urged the government to focus on improving waste management infrastructure and promoting recycling, rather than imposing bans.

 

 


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