Workshop on defining, estimating and disseminating statistics on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Nigeria

Illicit financial flows (IFFs) from Africa are large and growing. The export of valuable natural resources is often a main source of these flows, which undermine the state, drain domestic resources and cause security concerns. The capacity building workshop aims at equipping national stakeholders with the statistical skills necessary to measure SDG 16.4.1 “Total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows (in current United States dollars).”

For this pilot project on Defining, estimating and disseminating statistics on illicit financial flows in Africa, UNCTAD finalized a draft of “Methodological Guidelines to Measure Tax and Commercial IFFs” in May 2021, aimed at statistical and other national authorities with a mandate to collect and access relevant information. After a call for expression of interest in Africa in February 2021, jointly launched between UNECA and UNCTAD, 12 African countries are participating in pilot testing of the measurement of IFFs.