🔥 Hot off the presses: my new @CarnegieEndow report “West African Elites’ Spending on UK Schools and Universities: A Closer Look”. Are some 🇳🇬🇬🇭 politicians using unexplained wealth to school their children in the 🇬🇧? THREAD carnegieendowment.org/2021/01/28/wes…
Political, business, and cultural elites from around the world have a strong affinity for the UK education system. Nowhere is this truer than in Nigeria and Ghana, where some families have a long tradition of sending their children to British boarding schools and universities. 1/
These institutions are especially popular destinations for the offspring of prominent politically exposed persons (PEPs) from the region, increasing the risk that unexplained wealth accumulated by high-risk individuals is being spent in the UK education sector. 2/
My research revealed that the overall value of such suspicious transactions likely exceeds £30 million annually—and could be much more. 3/
This said—it is important to make clear that the overwhelming majority of Nigerian students in the United Kingdom pose little or no corruption risk; their families do not possess unexplained wealth and they are not linked to political elites. 4/
The United Kingdom’s independent schools, universities, and their intermediaries also have an important role and a clear interest in protecting the education sector from illicit financial flows. And some are gradually waking up to the challenge. 5/
Yet British schools and universities’ increasing awareness of money laundering risks is necessary—but not sufficient—to forestall illicit financial flows through the UK education sector. 6/
Working together, it is possible to advance UK, Nigerian, and Ghanaian anticorruption objectives, safeguard int'l education exports, support the aspirations of West Africa's brightest students, and close off an outlet for unexplained wealth flowing out of the region. 7/
Moreover, this phenomenon is not just a challenge for the UK. Educational institutions in Canada, the United States, and other countries that recruit elite students from West Africa are exposing themselves to similar risks. 8/
Who should read and be guided by this report? @UKinNigeria @NCA_UK @ISC_schools @the_isba @HMC_Org @UniversitiesUK @officialEFCC @ICPC_PE @USinNigeria @ngBritish @IrlEmbNigeria @CanHCNigeria @AusHCAbuja among many others. End/
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