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Experts Say Africa Forfeits $89bn Every Year To Illicit Financial Flows
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By Gloria Ikibah
African economies continue to suffer major revenue losses due to illicit financial flows, with experts estimating that as much as 89 billion dollars slips out of the continent annually.
Specialists from the West African Tax Administration Forum WATAF and Tax Justice Network Africa TJNA highlighted the scale of the challenge during an engagement with lawmakers at the ongoing 2026 First Ordinary session of the Economic Community of West African States Parliament in Abuja on Monday.
They linked the persistent losses to a range of harmful tax practices that continue to undermine public finances across the region. These include tax evasion, aggressive tax avoidance and the manipulation of trade invoices, all of which weaken governments’ ability to generate revenue.
Discussions at the session also focused on how to implement regional tax directives more effectively, with particular emphasis on strengthening domestic resource mobilisation and promoting greater alignment of tax systems across West Africa.
According to the experts, the continent is grappling with a substantial funding gap, with nearly 194 billion dollars needed each year to meet development demands, a shortfall made worse by ongoing financial leakages.
“Africa has a prevalent problem of illicit financial flows, and at least 65 per cent of these could be categorised as commercially-driven.
“The main practices that could lead to IFFs are: tax evasion, tax avoidance, tax misinvoicing and other harmful tax practices.
“These harmful tax practices haemorrhage the available resources that can be used for development of the continent, and Africa loses up to eighty-nine billion dollars annually,” they said, citing a 2020 report.
They also asserted that advancing tax harmonisation within the ECOWAS sub-region presents a strategic opportunity for WATAF to strengthen regional integration, enhance domestic resource mobilisation, and support sustainable development.
“Tax harmonisation is the fiscal backbone of ECOWAS integration. Without it, the region will continue to lose revenue through loopholes, smuggling, opacity, and profit shifting,” they said.
However, they emphasised that the effectiveness of such efforts would depend on strong political commitment, effective national-level implementation, and active parliamentary oversight.
Dr Nita Belemaobgo, Research Manager, WATAF, while highlighting the session’s expected outcomes, said the organisation’s objective was to support ECOWAS’ transition on tax directives aimed at harmonising fiscal policies across member states.
“Regional cooperation and evidence-based tools can significantly enhance accountability and reform outcomes,” she said.
Danicius Sengbeh, WATAF’s Manager, Communications and Information Technology, underscored the importance of setting regional tax harmonisation and domestic resource mobilisation.
He said the ECOWAS Parliament had an indispensable role to play in the oversight function of tax administration, adding that the engagement was about “sovereignty, fairness, accountability and West Africa’s future.”
Dr Zandile Ndebele of TJNA, in her submission, urged the regional MPs to make laws to ensure that local citizens in African countries benefited from domestic resource mobilisation and management.
Speaking on the theme, “Addressing Tax-Related Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) through Legislative Frameworks and Transparency,” she said:
“It’s possible to introduce legislation for domestic beneficiation to gain more resources and revenues, apart from gaining from just taxes.”
The experts urged lawmakers to adopt a broad and coordinated approach to tackling illicit financial flows, noting that meaningful progress in this area would be critical to strengthening both national and regional revenue generation.
Speaking on behalf of the Tax Justice Network Africa, Solomon Adoga called on parliamentarians to prioritise stronger legal frameworks for the mining sector, emphasising the need for stricter oversight and accountability.
He advised legislators to focus on “strengthening extractive legislation, scrutinising new mining agreements and monitoring tax incentives through cost-benefit analysis.”
He also stressed the importance of safeguarding the continent’s fiscal interests, warning against continued dependence on external systems.
“It’s important that Africa protects its taxing rights. We must look at where we are losing revenue as Africans. We don’t need to be reliant on other countries outside of Africa,” he said.
The experts further encouraged the Economic Community of West African States to deepen tax harmonisation efforts across the region as a way of reducing distortions, curbing unhealthy tax competition and reinforcing economic integration.
They pointed out that progress in tackling illicit financial flows does not necessarily depend on a unified currency, maintaining that countries can retain separate monetary systems while still working together to address the problem.
“There must be local beneficiation in our countries. Africa has been deprived of taxing rights. Multinational companies are not paying their fair share of taxation,” they noted.
In addition, lawmakers were urged to give priority to global tax reforms, improved information exchange and greater transparency, while encouraging member states to draw lessons from advocacy efforts in countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
A representative of the West African Tax Administration Forum, Jonas Igwe, highlighted the need for sustained commitment to make regional reforms effective.
“Effective implementation of tax harmonisation would require political commitment, institutional coordination, digital modernisation, sustained regional cooperation, monitoring and evaluation by national transition committees,” he added.
Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) has promoted 547 employees and approved salary step increments for 579 others as part of a broad workforce development programme designed to reward outstanding performance, strengthen staff motivation and drive organisational excellence.
The exercise, which benefitted 1,126 employees, followed the successful completion of the company’s 2025 Performance Appraisal Exercise and underscores AEDC’s commitment to building a high-performing, customer-focused workforce.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of AEDC, Chijioke Okwuokenye, said the initiative reflects the company’s resolve to place employees at the heart of its transformation agenda, stressing that investment in human capital remains critical to achieving sustainable growth.
He described the promotions and salary adjustments as a recognition of diligence, professionalism and commitment, noting that the company would continue to reward excellence while creating opportunities for career advancement.
According to him, AEDC is intentionally fostering a work environment where merit, innovation, continuous learning and teamwork determine career progression, adding that employee welfare remains a key pillar of the company’s long-term strategy.
“Our people remain our greatest asset and the foundation upon which AEDC’s future will be built. This is more than a reward for performance; it is a reaffirmation of our belief that excellence should always be recognised, talent should be nurtured and hard work should create opportunities for growth,” Okwuokenye said.
He explained that the organisation is committed to providing employees with fulfilling career opportunities that enable them to maximise their potential while contributing to AEDC’s ambition of becoming one of Africa’s leading electricity distribution companies.
The AEDC chief also urged employees who were not promoted in the current appraisal cycle to remain committed, assuring them that the company’s performance management system is structured to support continuous improvement, skills development and future career progression.
AEDC said the promotion and salary increment exercise forms part of its broader strategy to cultivate a performance-driven culture, encourage professionalism and recognise employees who contribute significantly to the company’s growth.
The company added that as it continues to modernise operations, improve electricity service delivery and enhance customer experience, it will sustain investments in staff development to strengthen productivity and reinforce its position as one of Nigeria’s preferred employers in the power sector.
Some hoodlums suspected to be political thugs on Sunday stormed a permanent voter’s card (PVC) distribution centre in Okuku, the headquarters of the Odo-Otin Local Government Area of the state, and carted away two packs of PVCs.
The INEC officials were busy distributing the cards at the Oyinlola DC Primary School, Ward 2, when the thugs suddenly arrived and started shooting sporadically into the air, scaring residents and officials, and took two packs of cards and left the venue before police could arrive at the scene.
The spokesperson of the Osun State Command, Abiodun Ojelabi, said that about ten armed hoodlums invaded the centre, fired sporadically into the air and carted away three packs of PVCs before fleeing the scene.
Ojelabi disclosed that the State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, has condemned the attack and directed a comprehensive investigation to identify and prosecute those responsible.
Reacting to the development, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC in the state, Oluwatoyin Babalola, condemned the attack. She said she was to get the detailed report on the attack, adding that she is yet to know the exact number of PVCs carted away by the hoodlums.
The REC, however, assured the people of the state that the governorship election would be free, fair, credible, inclusive and transparent.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has uploaded the details of 27 governorship candidates and their running mates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Candidate Nomination Portal (ICNP) ahead of the August 8 deadline.
The party has also uploaded the particulars of more than 60 per cent of its candidates contesting seats in the various State Houses of Assembly.
Findings indicated that the APC’s ICT department has completed the upload for candidates in 27 of the 28 states conducting governorship elections, with disagreement over the deputy governorship slot in one North-West state delaying the final submission.
A source on the APC National Working Committee (NWC) Vetting Committee, chaired by Hon. Jibrin Bancir, disclosed that 15 of the 16 incumbent governors seeking re-election had been cleared and uploaded to the portal.
Also uploaded were the details of 12 first-time governorship candidates and their running mates, including Obafemi Hamzat (Lagos), Solomon Adeola (Ogun), Ogundu Kingsley Chinda (Rivers), Eric Opah (Abia), Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi), Mustapha Gubio (Borno), Jamilu Gwamna (Gombe), Ahmed Aliyu Wadada (Nasarawa) and Baba Malam Wali (Yobe).
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a member of the vetting committee said the party had made substantial progress in meeting the electoral commission’s deadline.
“We have made giant strides in our efforts to upload the details of all our governorship candidates and their deputies. In fact, but for one state, we would have completed and closed the process for governorship candidates,” the source said.
The source attributed the delay to the unresolved choice of a deputy governorship candidate in a North-West state.
“The delay is caused by the deputy governorship candidate. We have been told that the issue will be resolved at a crucial stakeholders’ meeting scheduled for Monday here in Abuja,” the official added.
On the nomination of state assembly candidates, the source said the party had overcome initial technical challenges on INEC’s portal and had successfully uploaded the particulars of more than 60 per cent of its candidates.
“Despite the initial delay due to technical issues from the electoral umpire, our ICT personnel kept scanning and filling the details of our State Houses of Assembly candidates,” the source stated. “It was easy for us to upload immediately INEC opened the portal for sub-national lawmakers.
“Recall that our party completed the uploading of our Presidential and National Assembly candidates within record time. We are fully set to ensure that details of all 28 governorship candidates, their deputies, and the 990 state legislative nominees are uploaded well before the August 8 deadline.”
Under Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties must strictly comply with statutory timelines to submit candidate lists along with affidavits and personal declarations (Forms EC9 and EC9A through EC9E).
The digital portal—which opened at 9:00 a.m. on July 18—will automatically lock at 6:00 p.m. on August 8, leaving no room for manual submissions or post-deadline extensions.
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