Duarte: Focus on Institutions for Development

Abstract

Governance and institutional reform are central to Africa's solutions to asset flight and inequality, says Cabo Verde's finance minister. Political commitment and strong institutions are the key to managing Africa's looming challenges of economic inequality, illicit financial flows and climate change, according to the finance minister of Cabo Verde, Cristina Duarte. Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa's African Development Forum in Marrakech, Duarte says that the solutions to problems such as rising inequality amongst some of the continent's fast-growing economies--are well known. Strong institutions and investments in institutional capacity have underpinned its development and laid the foundations for future growth, Duarte says. The same is true of curtailing the continent's problems with illicit financial flows. Billions of dollars are lost annually, which Duarte also attributes to poor institutions.