$1.6bn lost daily as Africans suffer water, power poverty, Labour fumes

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation, ITUC-Africa, has lashed out at African leaders, multinational corporations and global financial systems over what it described as the massive looting of Africa’s wealth while millions of citizens remain trapped in water, sanitation and energy poverty.

In a worded Africa Day statement issued from Lomé, Togo, the labour body said Africa loses more than $580 billion annually — about $1.6 billion every day — through corruption, illicit financial flows, tax evasion and profit shifting, even as millions across the continent lack access to clean drinking water, electricity, healthcare and decent jobs.

According to the statement signed by ITUC-Africa General Secretary, Akhator Joel Odigie, “Every illicit financial flow is stolen water. Every tax haven is a stolen sanitation. Every corrupt deal is stolen electricity, healthcare, education, housing, and hope.”

The organisation, which represents over 18 million workers across 52 African countries, said the 2026 African Union theme on sustainable water availability and sanitation should force governments to confront corruption and economic injustice with “honesty, political courage and urgent action.”

ITUC-Africa lamented that despite Africa’s vast natural wealth and mineral resources, millions of households still rely on unsafe water sources and poor sanitation systems, while worsening inequality continues to push young Africans into dangerous migration routes across deserts and seas.

“Young Africans continue risking their lives across deserts and seas in search of opportunity and survival elsewhere because too many no longer believe the continent can provide a future for them,” the statement said.

The labour body accused African political elites of turning public office into “an instrument of private accumulation, tax evasion and personal aggrandisement,” warning that democracy itself could be endangered if governments fail to provide basic services for citizens.

“A democracy that cannot guarantee clean water, sanitation, affordable energy, healthcare, decent work, and dignity for its people — while public wealth leaks through corruption and unfair taxation systems — risks becoming a democracy in form but exclusionary in practice,” it declared.

ITUC-Africa also demanded sweeping tax reforms across the continent, insisting that multinational corporations, extractive industries and the super-rich must be made to pay fair taxes to stop Africa’s dependence on foreign aid and unsustainable borrowing.
The organisation further criticised multilateral financial institutions and international aid systems, accusing them of promoting policies that weakened African states through privatisation, debt dependency and underinvestment in public infrastructure.
It warned that Africa’s energy crisis remains unacceptable despite the continent’s enormous solar, hydro, gas and mineral resources.

“It is unacceptable that a continent endowed with immense solar, hydro, geothermal, gas, and critical mineral resources remains home to some of the world’s highest levels of energy poverty,” the statement added.
ITUC-Africa called on governments, trade unions, civil society groups, youth movements and women’s organisations to unite against corruption, illicit financial flows and inequality, while pushing for economic sovereignty, universal access to water and sanitation, decent work and inclusive industrialisation across the continent.

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