Journalists Urged to Intensify Reporting on Illicit Financial Flows

Editors and senior journalists in the Ashanti Region have been urged to step up their reportage on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) and domestic revenue mobilisation in order to help Ghana plug the huge revenue leakages that undermine national development.

This call was made at a sensitisation workshop organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in Kumasi on Friday, August 15, 2025. The event, which follows the launch of a comprehensive media guide in Accra earlier this month, is part of the “Tax for Development: Strengthening Civil Society and Media for Fiscal Justice” project, funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) through Oxfam in Ghana.

In her welcome remarks, Rosemond Ebi-Adwo Aryeetey, Senior Manager at MFWA, highlighted the media’s crucial role in exposing financial crimes. “Illicit Financial Flows continue to deny our country the resources it needs to build infrastructure and improve livelihoods. We urge the media to go beyond surface-level reporting and make full use of this guide to investigate and educate the public,” she said.

A consultant for the project, Bishop Akolgo, explained that IFFs occur through practices such as trade mispricing, money laundering, and illegal trade, which collectively deprive Ghana of billions of cedis annually. He encouraged journalists to apply the guide in their work while also engaging with institutions such as the Bank of Ghana, the Ghana Revenue Authority, and the Financial Intelligence Centre to expose irregularities.

Speaking on behalf of the Ghana Private Newspaper and Online Publishers Association (PRINPAG), Isaac Amoah, Managing Editor of The New Trust, stressed that the media guide comes at a critical time. “Ghana is estimated to lose between $1.4 and $3 billion each year to IFFs. With this guide, we now have a standard reference to investigate and report financial crimes more effectively,” he said, urging journalists not to leave the document “to gather dust on shelves.”

The Ashanti Regional President of the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), Isaac Frimpong, also underscored the need for broadcasters to use the guide to simplify complex fiscal issues for the public. “As storytellers and watchdogs, we must follow the money, ask tough questions, and keep the issue of IFFs in the national conversation,” he noted.

The Kumasi workshop is one of several regional engagements aimed at equipping journalists with the knowledge and tools to combat illicit financial flows and promote fiscal justice in Ghana.