Economy
Nigeria, others lose $1.6bn daily to illicit flows – AfDB
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Akinwumi AdesinaThe African Development Bank has revealed that the continent loses about $1.6bn every day to illicit financial flows and profit shifting on the part of multinationals operating in Africa.
This was disclosed by the Chief Economist of AfDB, Kevin Urama, in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH.
According to the International Monetary Fund, illicit financial flows refer to the movement of money across borders that is illegal in its source (e.g. corruption, smuggling), its transfer (e.g. tax evasion), or its use (e.g. terrorist financing).
For decades, the IMF has played a key role in international efforts to combat these opaque and often destabilising transfers. It also has longstanding concerns with flows that are not strictly illegal but are associated with tax avoidance
Urama said that Africa was losing more than it was getting back via Foreign Direct Investment and said that the focus of stakeholders should be on blocking the outflow rather than chasing inflows.
He said, “There are so many things that happen on the continent that actually make corruption a big issue. And some estimations show that Africa loses about 248 billion US dollars every year due to corruption. If you add illicit financial flows of over $90bn and add profit shifting; corporates operating in Africa but then maybe have headquarters somewhere else and they find clever accounting ways of legally not paying taxes. In Africa, we are losing about $275bn. When you sum all these up, these are things you can trace through banks, then you find that Africa is losing about $587bn every year.
“That’s about $1.61bn every day. Yet we spend all our time chasing FDI, foreign direct investment, official development assistance, portfolio flows and remittances. All these together during the year we did this study for 2022 was about $174.5bn. That’s less than three times, I mean what we are losing is three times more than what we are getting from the global market. So how do we engage with the global market? Are we not focusing on the wrong priorities? Because if you ask me if I’m losing almost $600bn, I will focus on how not to lose it instead of going to get more. Tackling it, is what we are doing.
Highlighting some of the ways to shut the door on the outflow, Urama said, “It all comes down to the quality of institutions, the accountability systems for institutions, the capacity of individuals in government, in public service to first understand the implications of decisions they make but also to have the tools, the regulations, the policies and principles and technologies to be able to track it down and stem it.
“And that is why in the African Development Bank, we not only are developing these issues on debt but we’ve also now developed what we call a Public Service Delivery Index for Africa which measures the quantum of public services delivered in all key sectors of development but also the perceptions of the citizens on how that public service is. You may say you have provided electricity to me because you put a pole and wires passed behind my house, but maybe I have not been able to connect.”
Illicit financial flows were one of the reasons Nigeria has been on the greylist of the Financial Action Task Force since February 2023.
However, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit in October said that FAFT had approved the fourth progress report of the country at its last plenary meeting.
Speaking on the sidelines of the last IMF’s annual meetings in Washington, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Philip Ikeazor reinforced the commitment to exiting the grey list, saying, “Practically sending money home is impossible and if we are talking about driving remittances and FDI’s then we need to get out of the Grey List.”
The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso outlining measures to meet this target, said stronger oversight and collaboration with international money transfer operators and Nigeria’s diaspora were key.
The Black Market Dollar-to-Naira Exchange Rate for 12th September 2026 Can Be Accessed Below.
NOTE: The exchange rate changes hourly. It depends on the volume of dollars available and the Demand. This means…you can buy or sell 1 dollar at a certain rate, and the price can change (high or low) within hours.
The official naira black market exchange rate in Nigeria today, including the Black Market rates, Bureau De Change (BDC), and CBN rates.
The exchange rate fluctuates hourly based on the supply and demand of dollars in the market.
What’s the dollar to naira black market today, 12th September 2026?
The exchange rate for a dollar to naira at Lagos Parallel Market (Black Market) players sell a dollar for ₦1380 and buy at ₦1392 on Saturday, 12th September, 2026, according to sources at Bureau De Change (BDC).
Please note that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does not recognize the parallel market (black market), as it has directed individuals who want to engage in Forex to approach their respective banks.
Dollar to Naira Black Market Rate Today
Dollar to Naira (USD to NGN) Black Market Exchange Rate Today
Selling Rate ₦1380
Buying Rate ₦1392
Dollar to Naira CBN Rate Today
Dollar to Naira (USD to NGN) CBN Rate Today
Highest Rate ₦1326
Lowest Rate ₦1326
Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has moved to forge a new public-private partnership that will bring banks, fintechs, insurers, virtual asset providers and regulators together to tackle increasingly sophisticated financial crimes and illicit financial flows.
The initiative, known as the Joint Financial Intelligence Collaboration (JFIC), is designed to create a trusted platform for public and private institutions to share financial intelligence, detect emerging threats and disrupt illicit financial networks.
The NFIU unveiled the framework at a stakeholders’ engagement in Abuja yesterday, with support from the British High Commission and the Convention for Business Integrity (CBi).
Representatives of banks, insurance companies, fintechs, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), technology firms, regulators and other stakeholders participated in the engagement, which was aimed at moving the proposed partnership from concept to implementation.
Representing the NFIU Chief Executive Officer, Hafsat Bakari, the Unit’s General Counsel, Felix Obiamalu, said the engagement marked a decisive turning point in the development of the initiative.
“We have moved from dialogue to design, to commitment and implementation,” Obiamalu said.
He stressed that the objective was no longer merely to discuss the concept, but to jointly determine the structure, operation and value of the partnership and how it could be sustained.
“The objective is no longer simply to discuss the concept. It is to jointly determine what this partnership should look like, how it should operate, what value it should create and how it can be sustained over time,” he said.
The NFIU said the initiative was premised on the recognition that no single institution could effectively combat modern financial crime in isolation, making intelligence sharing and coordinated action between government and industry increasingly critical.
Speaking on behalf of the British High Commission, Jehanzeb Khan, Illicit Financial Flows Officer at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), reaffirmed the importance of stronger collaboration between government and the private sector in combating illicit financial flows.
Managing Director of the Convention for Business Integrity, Olusoji Apampa, said the process was deliberately structured to place the private sector at the centre of decision-making.
According to him, this would ensure that the emerging framework reflects operational realities and secures broad ownership among stakeholders.
Delivering the keynote presentation, former Chair of the Egmont Group and former Director of South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Centre, Xolisile Khanyile, described private-sector participation in the fight against financial crime as a national responsibility.
She urged Nigeria to adopt a practical and phased approach to implementing the proposed collaboration.
“Trust, shared ownership and collaboration are the foundations of every successful public-private partnership,” Khanyile said.
She added that given Nigeria’s strategic importance within the global anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework, the initiative was both timely and necessary.
The engagement ended with strong stakeholder support for the proposed JFIC framework and a commitment to advancing a partnership capable of strengthening financial intelligence, improving threat detection and enhancing Nigeria’s response to increasingly sophisticated financial crimes.
Oil prices surged yesterday with Brent crude hitting over $107 per barrel for the first time since May, as traders braced for a more prolonged supply shock caused by the Iran war.
Oil prices have climbed back above the $100 per barrel mark this week as fighting in the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea has intensified. The US and Iran have traded strikes, while the Iran-backed Houthis have attacked Saudi Arabia and ignited tensions in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
In Nigeria, fuel prices have continued to rise, with the cost of diesel (Automotive Gas Oil) reaching about N2,000 per litre in some locations, while petrol has climbed beyond N1,400 per litre in parts of the country.
The fresh increases are adding to pressure on businesses and households, particularly manufacturers, transport operators and other users that depend heavily on petroleum products for power and mobility.
The development has also raised concerns over a renewed increase in transportation and production costs, with businesses likely to pass higher energy expenses on to consumers through increased prices of goods and services.
The latest surge in pump prices comes despite increased domestic refining capacity, underscoring the continued impact of crude supply, distribution costs, market conditions and other factors on the pricing of petroleum products.
Yesterday, Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 6.1 per cent and traded at $107.40 per barrel while US crude rose 6.2 per cent and hit $102 per barrel for the first time since May.
Resurgent conflict has stoked concerns of further disruptions to global oil supplies and the flow of crude through the Strait of Hormuz.
“The step up in attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and by the Houthis against Saudi Arabia suggests that Iran and its proxies are trying to regain the initiative in the war,” Jason Tuvey, deputy chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, said in a note.
“This could set back the recovery in oil output in the Gulf and raises the risk that global energy prices rise even further in the coming weeks,” Tuvey said.
For the first time since the war started, S&P Global Energy said Thursday it does not expect Middle East oil production to return to pre-war levels by the end of next year. The firm no longer assumes a definitive end to the war nor a return to normal in the Strait of Hormuz by the end of 2027.
S&P now expects oil prices to stay high in the $80 to $100 a barrel range through next year.
The rise in oil prices has added to nerves about inflation and central bank rate hikes, sending ripples through bonds and stocks, a CNN report stated.
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