Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (STAR)

The Academic Forum is an inclusive and accessible forum that brings together undergraduate and graduate students as well as early career researchers from across the world interested in international economic law issues as they relate to Africa and the Global South. Its goals are to encourage and build core research skills in teaching, research, theory, methods and writing; developing content for Afronomicslaw.org and where possible to encourage authors to submit to the African Journal of International Economic Law; holding workshops and masterclasses on core research skills in teaching, research, theory, methods and writing; and organizing annual poster/essay competitions on international economic law issues.

Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) are one of several impediments to achieving sustainable development in developing countries across the world. While there is no globally accepted definition of IFFs, there is global acceptance that IFFs undermine the efforts of developing countries to generate domestic revenues to finance their national development agendas. According to the United Nations (UN), developing countries face an estimated annual funding gap of $2.5 trillion to deliver on Agenda 2030. In Africa, the continent loses approximately $100 billion annually through IFFs that are generated in and moved from the continent to tax havens.