ABSTRACT
My key concern in this study is to assess and provide insights into the phenomenon of illicit financial flows that has been threatening the African continent in general and particularly South Africa’s economic growth and sustainable development for decades. Between 2004 and 2013, South Africa’s cumulative illicit financial flows amounted to nearly 210 million US dollars in nominal value. During the same period, the country ranked seventh among the top ten source economies for illicit financial flows. Like numerous African nations that rely on natural resources to grow their economy, South Africa has been losing a staggering sum of money to the profit of sophisticated global criminal networks. In this chapter, I provide insights into illicit financial flows as a typology of threat that remains relatively unknown to many people.
