The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Aliyu (SAN), has said Africa is losing over $50 billion annually to illicit financial flows, undermining development and crippling public services.

In his keynote address at the Realnews Magazine 13th Anniversary Lecture Series in Lagos, Aliyu described the persistent outflow of illegal funds as one of the most devastating drains on Africa’s development capacity, noting that the lost resources could have been used to build schools, hospitals, roads, and other critical infrastructure.

Aliyu, who spoke on theme: “Cybersecurity, Illicit Financial Flows and Achieving Agenda 2063 in Africa”, said illicit financial flows whether through tax evasion, corruption, illegal mining, wildlife trafficking, money laundering or cyberenabled crimes, had become a silent crisis that threatened African nations’ sovereignty and the futur The ICPC boss disclosed that investigations by the commission had uncovered cases where multinational companies manipulated trade figures and inflate costs to avoid paying taxes.

He cited one major company found to had exaggerated expenses to reduce taxable profits, saying the amount lost would have been enough to construct a world-class hospital in Nigeria.

He said: “These practices deny African governments the resources they need to function. “Trade mispricing, profit shifting, and tax evasion remain some of the biggest contributors to financial leakages.”

The ICPC boss also lamented the role of government officials who diverted public funds using multiple bank accounts, sometimes with the connivance of financial institutions.

He said suspicious transactions moving from government accounts into private hands were often ignored by banks that fail to file mandatory reports.