By Dickson Bandera
Nigeria has strengthened its capacity to detect and curb illicit financial flows linked to trade mis-invoicing following a five-day training programme conducted with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), officials said on Friday.
The workshop, held in Abuja from Jan. 19–23, focused on improving the use of customs and trade data to measure revenue losses arising from illicit financial flows, a persistent problem for Africa’s largest economy and the wider continent.
Participants included officials from the finance ministry, Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Central Bank of Nigeria, anti-corruption agencies and financial intelligence bodies.
Illicit financial flows, particularly through under-invoicing and over-invoicing of imports and exports, deprive Nigeria of billions of dollars annually, limiting funds available for development and public services.
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Minister of State for Finance Doris Uzoka-Anite said illicit financial flows posed a major threat to Nigeria’s economic sovereignty and revenue base.
She said strengthening the use of trade and customs data would improve compliance, protect revenues and align Nigeria with international standards to combat financial crime.
The training focused on advanced analytical tools such as the Partner Country Method Plus (PCM+) and the Price Filter Method Plus (PFM+), which help identify anomalies in trade data that may signal mis-invoicing and other illicit practices.
Permanent Secretary in the finance ministry Raymond Omachi said accurate measurement of illicit financial flows was critical for effective policymaking, transparency and accountability.
“Reliable data allows government institutions to understand the scale of the problem and design targeted responses,” he said.
ECA official Allan Mukungu said the Abuja workshop built on an earlier training conducted in May 2025, addressing gaps in technical capacity and data availability in analysing trade-based illicit financial flows.
Participants carried out hands-on exercises using both synthetic and real-world datasets, with the aim of producing regular analytical reports and policy-relevant recommendations, Mukungu said.
Idris Abdullahi, coordinator of Nigeria’s inter-agency technical working group on illicit financial flows, said the government remained committed to tackling data challenges that constrain the estimation of illicit flows and the identification of vulnerabilities.
The ECA said it would continue supporting African countries in strengthening domestic resource mobilisation and safeguarding public revenues, in line with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations 2030 development goals.
