'Africa is the only continent where water flows upwards' - Prof Bokpin

In a striking metaphor, renowned economist and Professor of Finance, Godfred Bokpin, has described Africa as “the only continent where water flows upwards”, a reference to the billions of dollars lost annually through illicit financial flows. Speaking on GhanaWeb's BizTech, Professor Bokpin explained that Africa continues to lose vast sums of money through capital flight, tax evasion, and financial leakages, even as it borrows heavily and receives aid from wealthier nations.

“Africa probably is the only continent where water flows upwards, and it's for a good reason...If you look at illicit financial flows, we are losing billions of dollars. And if you compare that to what we get by borrowing, aid and the rest of them, we will be better off if we strengthen our internal governance framework,” he told the host, Ernestina Serwaa Asante.

According to data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and the African Development Bank (AfDB), Africa loses an estimated $90 billion every year to illicit financial flows. This is roughly 4% of the continent’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Professor Bokpin argued that despite the continent’s reliance on foreign loans, aid, and investment, Africa is paradoxically a net creditor to the rest of the world, sending out more wealth than it receives. “Africa exists essentially for the rest of the world.

Unfortunately, Africa does not exist for Africa,” he told GhanaWeb's Ernestina Serwaa Asante. He also criticised the structural design of Africa’s economies and infrastructure, which he said were shaped by colonial interests to serve external powers rather than foster intra-African connectivity.

“If you look at the way Africa was designed… there is very little fiscal connectivity within Africa itself, because Africa was designed to save the rest of the world,” he noted. He lamented that even basic trade between African countries remains costly and inefficient.

In some cases, goods must be routed through Europe before reaching another African destination. A legacy of fragmented infrastructure and limited regional integration.

Professor Bokpin called for a stronger governance, regional cooperation, and economic re-engineering to ensure Africa’s wealth serves its own development. All you need to know about Ghana's new vehicle number plates |BizTech:

Source: GhanaWeb