Nigeria is estimated to lose $17.8 billion every year to Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs)—funds that are illegally earned, transferred, concealed, or moved across borders through corruption, tax evasion, trade mis-invoicing, money laundering, illicit exploitation of natural resources, and other financial crimes. While these losses are often discussed in economic terms, their real cost is measured in abandoned development projects, weakened public institutions, and deepening inequality.
For women and girls, the consequences are particularly severe.
This staggering figure is more than a statistic; it represents countless missed opportunities for national development. It is the rural health clinic that was never built, the girls who never received scholarships to complete their education, the primary healthcare centre operating without electricity or essential medicines, the community water project left unfinished, and the market women’s cooperative that never accessed affordable credit to expand its businesses.
Every dollar lost through illicit financial flows is a dollar diverted from reducing poverty, strengthening public services, advancing gender equality, and creating opportunities for the country’s most vulnerable citizens. Until these financial leakages are addressed, the promise of inclusive and sustainable development will remain beyond the reach of millions of Nigerians.
It was against this backdrop that **Grassroot People and Gender Development Center (GRADE)** participated in the two-day capacity-building workshop organised by the **Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ)** under the **EU-supported SecFin Africa Project**, held in Lagos on **21–22 July 2026**. The workshop, themed **”Strengthening CSOs and Media Capacity to Contribute to the Fight Against Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Nigeria,”** brought together civil society organisations and media practitioners to deepen understanding of illicit financial flows and strengthen collective action against them.
As a grassroots, gender-focused organisation working directly with women, girls, and vulnerable communities, GRADE left the workshop with one clear conviction: the fight against illicit financial flows cannot be left to anti-corruption agencies, financial experts, and investigative journalists alone. Grassroots organisations must be recognised as essential partners, and gender must become central—not peripheral—to conversations about financial accountability.
The Numbers Hide a Gendered Story
Throughout the workshop, facilitators—including **Professor Abdullahi Shehu** of SecFin Africa—unpacked the complex mechanisms that enable illicit financial flows, from procurement fraud and money laundering to tax evasion, trade mis-invoicing, and the use of shell companies and offshore financial systems to move stolen assets beyond Nigeria’s reach.
Yet behind these technical discussions lies a human story that is too often overlooked.
When resources meant for education, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure, and social protection disappear, women and girls absorb the consequences first. Women travel farther in search of water when public water systems fail. They struggle to keep small businesses afloat when electricity is unreliable. They shoulder increased caregiving responsibilities when healthcare services are underfunded. Girls are more likely to leave school when families can no longer afford education, and women entrepreneurs lose opportunities when government empowerment programmes never reach their intended beneficiaries.
Illicit financial flows are therefore not merely an economic or governance issue—they are a gender justice issue. Every stolen public resource widens existing inequalities and limits the opportunities available to women and girls.
Why Grassroots Organisations Must Be Part of the Solution
Combating illicit financial flows requires more than investigations and prosecutions. It also demands active citizen participation, community oversight, and sustained advocacy.
This is where grassroots organisations such as GRADE have an indispensable role to play.
Working directly within communities gives grassroots organisations a unique understanding of how missing public resources affect everyday lives. They witness the realities behind national statistics: under-resourced schools, abandoned health facilities, incomplete community projects, and women excluded from economic opportunities because promised investments never materialised.
Grassroots organisations can translate complex financial issues into language communities understand, helping citizens recognise how illicit financial flows affect their daily lives. Through civic education, community dialogues, and advocacy campaigns, they can empower women and marginalised groups to demand transparency, participate meaningfully in budget processes, and hold public institutions accountable for service delivery.
They can also monitor community projects, track budget implementation, document gaps in public services, and generate evidence that strengthens advocacy efforts. By connecting community experiences with national policy discussions, grassroots organisations help transform financial data into compelling evidence for reform.
Equally important is building the capacity of women’s groups, youth associations, and community-based organisations to understand public finance, monitor development projects, and advocate for equitable allocation of public resources. An informed citizenry is one of the strongest safeguards against corruption and financial leakages.
Taking the Lessons Back to the Community
Beyond increasing our understanding of illicit financial flows, the workshop equipped participants with practical tools for promoting accountability. Sessions on data-driven advocacy, evidence generation, and citizen engagement highlighted how civil society can document financial irregularities, contribute to investigative reporting, monitor local government budgets, and advocate more effectively for transparent governance.
For GRADE, these lessons will inform our community engagement, advocacy programmes, and capacity-building initiatives. We intend to strengthen public awareness of illicit financial flows, integrate budget accountability into our civic education activities, and support women and community groups to engage more confidently in governance processes.
Perhaps the greatest lesson from the workshop is that organisations working on gender equality and grassroots development cannot afford to treat illicit financial flows as someone else’s issue. Every naira diverted through corruption or financial crime is a missed opportunity to educate a girl, empower a woman, strengthen a family, or improve a community.
A Call for Stronger Collaboration
GRADE commends ANEEJ and the SecFin Africa Project for expanding this important conversation beyond traditional anti-corruption actors to include civil society organisations. However, future engagements should deliberately increase the participation of grassroots and gender-focused organisations from across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
Winning the fight against illicit financial flows will require strong partnerships between government institutions, anti-corruption agencies, investigative journalists, civil society organisations, community leaders, and development partners. Sustainable solutions will emerge only when technical expertise is combined with community knowledge and citizen participation.
At GRADE, we are committed to serving as that bridge—connecting communities with policymakers, amplifying the voices of women and girls, and advocating for transparent and accountable management of public resources.
Ultimately, the most important question is not simply where the **$17.8 billion** goes each year. It is who was denied the opportunities those resources were meant to create—and how different the lives of millions of Nigerians, especially women and girls, would be if those resources reached the communities they were intended to serve.
