Ghana is estimated to have lost about US$43 billion through Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) over the past decade, a preliminary study on the subject has revealed.The loss, which occurred between 2013 and 2023, was mainly through trade-related IFFs, particularly under-invoicing of exports, over-invoicing of imports, profit-shifting, and cross-border smuggling.The Government Statistician(GS), Dr Al­hasan Iddrisu, disclosed this in a speech read on his behalf by the Director of Business, Trade and Industry Statistics at the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), Dr Owusu Kagya, at a workshop on the Measurement of Tax and Commercial Illicit Financial Flows and Targeted Policy Options in Accra yesterday.The five-day programme, jointly organised by the Government of Ghana, the Na­tional Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), brought together representatives from gov­ernment institutions, civil society, academia, and the media to deliberate on the prelimi­nary findings and policy responses.According to Dr Iddrisu, the IFFs were draining resources needed for the country's growth and development."This is revenue that could have been invested in infrastructure, education, health­care and other critical areas.

Instead, it has slipped away, often invisibly, across borders," he lamented.Dr Iddrisu stressed that the effects of IFFs extended beyond revenue losses, warn­ing that "these flows distort economic policy, undermine institutions, erode public trust and deepen inequality.

When unchecked, they enable organised crime and corruption, weaken investor confidence and threaten national security and political stability."The Government Statistician noted that the preliminary estimates represented a "major milestone" in Ghana's effort to tackle the menace, but emphasised that "producing data is not enough.

We must now turn that data into actionable policy, effective institu­tional responses and a stronger regulatory environment."He outlined five priority areas to guide national action, namely strengthening institutional coordination across agencies, integrating IFF data into national planning tools, investing in statistical and technical capacity, fostering international cooperation, and empowering civil society and the media to promote accountability.The Acting Director-General of the NDPC, Dr Audrey Smock Amoah, de­scribed IFFs as one of the most insidious threats to Ghana's economic sovereignty."They drain our national resources, cripple domestic revenue mobilisation efforts and ultimately deepen inequality, directly under­mining our national agenda for economic transformation and the financing of the Sustainable Development Goals," she said.She observed that despite Ghana's strate­gies to finance the SDGs, including integrat­ing them into national budgets and strength­ening the tax system, the country still faced an annual financing gap of about $43 billion.The United Nations Trade and Develop­ment representative, Ms Barbara Blessed, commended Ghana for the institutional measures put in place to combat IFFs, and pledged UNCTAD's continued support to strengthen national systems.Also contributing, the Member of Par­liament for Walewale and a member of the Finance Committee, assured that Parliament would continue to advocate stronger funding for anti-corruption institutions to intensify the fight against corruption. BY KINGSLEY ASARE