A day’s capacity building on Illicit Financial Flows, IFF has been held for some selected journalists in Takoradi.
The training organized by the Ghana Integrity Initiative, GII local chapter of Transparency International, and in partnership with Friends of the Nation was to equip journalists to investigate corrupt cases relating to IFF as a strategy to promote transparency and reduce corruption in Ghana.
The training forms part of activities under the project Illicit Financial Flows, IFS reduced and domestic resource mobilization increased in targeted countries and is being funded by Norwegian Agency for Development Corporation through Global Financial Integrity.
Speaking at the training, a representative at GII, Michael Boadi, urged journalists to take an interest in the issue of IFF as watchdogs and make conscious efforts to fight the phenomenon.
According to him, IFF is the illegal movement of money or capital from one country to another. He added that the process of earning, transferring, and utilizing money is key when it comes to the issue of IFS.
He called for collaborative efforts with the media and other stakeholders to address the issue.
According to Mr. Boadi, the practice of IFF reduces tax revenue and impedes development undermines good governance and the intensity of the conflict.
Referring to the statistics from Global Financial Integrity, Africa loses about 50 to 60 billion US dollars through IFS annually.
He mentioned weak regulators as part of the conditions which facilitate IFS.
