Conduits of Capital

after passing the 1 st phase. The Phase 2 assessment is
scheduled for 2015.
Ghana: The Government has toyed with the idea of
establishing an IFSC in Accra and in 2004 put forward a
formal proposal to do so. It consequently signed an MoU
with Barclays Bank of Ghana in 2005 to further investigate
the prospects. By 2007, the country had drafted the
regulatory framework for offshore companies. Eventually,
however, Barclays handed back its offshore banking licence
in 2011, with the agreement of the Bank of Ghana, citing a
reluctance by the government to put in place the necessary
legal, regulatory and fiscal frameworks. The original
proposal generated a negative reaction by the OECD, and
the fear of blacklisting by the OECD may have caused the
government to backtrack. 8 There was also opposition from
civil society. The project now appears to be on hold.
Ghana has been assessed under the OECD Global Forum,
completing a Phase 2 review in late 2014, under which it
was deemed “Largely Compliant.” Of the African centres,
Ghana has the 2 nd best secrecy score, behind South Africa.
However, it has the second lowest TJN FSI score because
of its relative size.
Kenya has recently agreed to a plan to establish the
Nairobi International Financial Centre (NIFC). This is part
of Kenya’s “Vision 2030,” which identifies financial services
as a key economic sector to be developed. The NIFC is
seen as the flagship project in the financial sector, with two
objectives: to stimulate economic activity in its own right,
by making Kenya a regional financial services centre, and
to provide a channel for attracting financial resources to
meet Kenya’s own investment needs under the Vision 2030
development plan.
In June 2013, the Kenyan Cabinet approved the
establishment of the NIFC in order to “connect Kenya to
international financial markets by providing for international
banks to operate in Kenya,” and directed that the centre
be set up by December 2013. However, as of August
2014, Kenya is more than eight months behind schedule
in creating the NIFC. No legal or regulatory framework
has been designed, and no government agency has been
assigned the task of overseeing the NIFC. 9
Beyond the NIFC initiative, Nairobi is already the de facto
financial hub of East Africa. This reflects the range of financial
institutions and markets operating in Kenya. There are a
large number of banks in operation, several of which have
expanded into the region. Nairobi has a long-established
and reasonably liquid stock exchange, and there is a
moderately well-developed insurance, pensions and asset
management sector. The Kenyan financial services sector
has also been boosted by the rapid growth and success of
mobile money operators, and the subsequent emergence of
value-added service providers.
Kenya has been assessed under the OECD Global Forum
programme; the country successfully completed Phase 1
and is due for a Phase 2 assessment in 2015. The GFCI
identifies Nairobi as an emerging financial centre, which
could be included in the GFCI. Kenya is not rated on the
TJN FSI.
Liberia is included in international listings of financial
centres, but this largely reflects its status as a ‘flag state’
providing corporate and maritime ‘tax haven’ services to
vessel owners and operators since the 1940s. In practice,
Liberia’s shipping registry is administered from offices in
Virginia in the United States.
Liberia is relatively opaque. The country has the second
highest (worst) TJN FSI score of the sample (behind
Mauritius), and it has not been cleared to proceed to Phase
2 of the OECD Global Forum assessment due to a failure to
address issues raised in the Phase 1 assessment.
Morocco: The Casablanca Finance City Authority was
established in 2010, to provide an international business and
finance hub primarily focussed on North and West Africa,
particularly francophone Africa. It offers tax incentives,
exchange control exemptions, and business facilitation
such as work permit processing. It is included in the GFCI,
where it is ranked 51 (ahead of Mauritius but behind
Johannesburg). Morocco has not yet had an OECD Global
Forum review, but is expected to have a Phase 1 review
in 2015.
8
Jeffrey Owens, Head of the OECD’s Tax Centre was quoted as saying that “The last thing Africa needs is a tax haven in the centre of the continent.”
Another commentator noted that Ghana’s initiative “could facilitate large-scale corruption and tax evasion, and pose a correspondingly large risk to
good governance and economic growth in the region.” The Guardian, 19 January 2010 (http://www.oecd.org/tax/transparency/44447449.pdf).
9
Waris, A (2014) The Creation of International Financial Centres in Africa: The Case of Kenya. U4 Brief September 2014 No 8.
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