AfDB and Media Groups Intensify Africa-Wide Fight Against Illicit Financial Flows
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A Continent-Wide Challenge
Illicit financial flows (IFFs) siphon billions of dollars from African economies every year, undermining efforts to mobilise domestic resources for development. Governments and civil-society organisations are now pairing policy reform with skills training to plug these cash leaks and improve fiscal resilience.
Bangui Workshop Targets Risky Resource-Backed Loans
From 10-13 June 2025, more than 80 officials from the Central African Republic (CAR) gathered in Bangui for a high-level workshop themed “Harnessing Africa’s Wealth: Curbing Illicit Financial Flows for Resilient Growth and Development.” Convened by the African Development Institute and the Natural Resources Management and Investment Centre under the AfDB’s GONAT initiative, the meeting explored how resource-backed loans—credits collateralised by minerals or timber—can finance roads and hospitals yet expose fragile states to unsustainable debt if oversight is weak.
Practical Tools in the Toolkit
Participants learned to deploy trade-misinvoicing analytics, the Partner Country Method, and indices such as the Financial Secrecy Index to spot discrepancies between export declarations and customs data—techniques already revealing undervaluation in CAR’s gold and diamond sectors.
Gender and Community Voices Matter
Organisers set a 40% female participation target, arguing that inclusive governance boosts transparency and social cohesion in resource-rich communities. “Transformative change is only possible when women’s voices are integrated,” AfDB country manager Mamady Souaré told delegates.
Media Capacity Building in West Africa
While policymakers met in CAR, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) ran a two-day workshop in Ghana (22-30 May 2025) to train 60 journalists on tracking IFFs and progressive taxation. Backed by NORAD through Oxfam, the sessions focused on investigative techniques that link opaque cash movements to stalled public-service projects.
Journalist Safety Takes Centre Stage
A companion MFWA programme, “Expose the Flow,” brought 30 reporters from Kenya, Tanzania and Ghana to intensive digital- and physical-security drills. Trainers demonstrated encrypted communications, risk assessment and trauma care—skills deemed essential as reporters probing corruption face rising threats both online and on the street.
Why the Multi-Pronged Approach Matters
Experts say coupling government oversight with investigative journalism creates a virtuous loop: stronger data allow officials to recoup lost revenues, while public-interest reporting deters future abuses by keeping illicit deals in the spotlight.
Next Steps
The AfDB plans to roll out similar GONAT workshops in Chad, Mozambique and Zimbabwe later this year, while MFWA aims to publish a series of cross-border investigations on IFFs by the end of 2025. Together, these initiatives signal a region-wide pivot from diagnosing the IFF problem to equipping the people most able to solve it.
