About
Every year, Africa is estimated to lose approximately USD 88.6 billion to illicit financial flows (IFFs), 3.7% of the continent’s GDP. These illicit activities limit the funds available for economic development and undermine social progress and national stability.
From 2010 – 2025 we led a programme across 25 African countries to tackle illicit financial flows by training hundreds of journalists to investigate financial crime. Alongside this we strengthened the abilities of civil society groups to advocate for change, and trained businesses and governments in responsible tax and transparency practices.
What are illicit financial flows?
Illicit financial flows (IFFs) are illegal movements of money and assets across borders, representing funds that are illegally earned, transferred or utilised. They also include tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance, often through complex strategies.
Overview
IFFs can only be addressed if tackled systematically. Journalists, civil society organisations, the private sector and policymakers can all contribute to change, but to do this, they need knowledge, tools, and platforms to connect.
For over a decade, we worked across Africa to bring together some of the most significant actors needed to challenge this loss of funds. Through this work, we aimed to enable citizens to hold their governments accountable – and ultimately reduce the loss of resources from the continent.
In a multi-phase programme over 15 years, we trained nearly 900 journalists, 50 civil society organisations and 25 businesses on issues connected to IFFs. We also provided free legal research and support for civil society organisations through our global pro bono legal network, TrustLaw.
Our approach
- Multi-stakeholder: We moved from training individual journalists to building a continent-wide movement against illicit financial flows. We were a trusted facilitator between media, civil society, the private sector and labour organisations.
- National and continent-wide expertise: We combined training on specific challenges like improving the traceability of oil and gas revenues, alongside an approach tailored to the contexts of selected countries.
- Embedding expertise within newsrooms: From 2023-2025, we supported six newsrooms to set up desks to cover IFFs. We provided equipment and software and training to sustain specialised financial crime reporting.
- Supporting newsroom leaders: Our editors’ briefings gave newsroom leaders a deeper understanding of IFFs, encouraging them to allocate resources, legal support, and time for journalists to produce thorough, fact-based coverage of IFFs.
- Gender lens: In 2025, we integrated gender perspectives into our support for, raising awareness of how IFFs disproportionately affect women and marginalised communities. Alongside our other journalist training, we also set up a separate women-only cohort, supporting journalists from Kenya to expose underreported aspects of IFFs.
- Legal knowledge was embedded our trainings, highlighting the national, regional and international legal frameworks related to IFFs in addition to providing journalists with a checklist of legal factors to consider before publishing stories.
Key highlights
Highlights from this programme included:
- Reporting on gold smuggling in Tanzania: After our training and mentorship, a journalist reported on how tax disparities fuel gold smuggling in Tanzania and quantified the revenue lost by the treasury. The story may have contributed to the commitments made in the 2025-26 budget speech, where the Ministry of Finance and Planning committed to improve oversight of the mineral market.
- Exposing illegal logging in Ghana: A journalist taking part in our programme investigated illegal logging and the financial networks that enable timber trafficking. The government later cancelled more than one hundred logging contracts.
- Tracing money lost from soapstone mining: We supported a journalist in Kenya to cover how communities receive only a fraction of the income generated by soapstone mining, due to poorly regulated trade and a lack of processing and finishing facilities. After publication, the national and Kisii County governments committed Ksh 2.3 million ($17,800) to support the soapstone industry, including accelerating investment in facilities so that artisans can earn more from finished products.
- Strengthening campaigning through legal research: Our global pro bono network, TrustLaw, provided legal research on tobacco taxation for the National Taxpayers Association of Kenya, which they used to urge the government to increase taxes on tobacco to curb its use by young people.
- Bringing together civil society representatives: Jamii Africa and the Tanzania Anti-Corruption Network collaborated on an anti-corruption project after connecting through our training.
Journalists
Since 2010 the project has supported nearly 900 journalists and 55 independent newsrooms across Africa.
African countries
We have trained and supported journalists and newsrooms from countries across the continent.
Reports and investigations
Produced on issues related to IFFs by participating journalists and independent newsrooms since 2010.
Businesses
Our training for businesses covered responsible tax and transparency practices
Civil society organisations
We supported over 50 civil society organisations through training and legal support
Our impact
Training that transformed one journalist’s approach to reporting
After taking part in the programme, Fidelis Zvomuya uncovered women’s hidden role in rhino-poaching between South Africa and Mozambique. His story sparked national conversation in South Africa, was covered by major news outlets, earned him an award nomination and a journalism role in a think tank.
“Before the Foundation’s support, I lacked structured training in investigative methodology… Newsrooms often lack resources for long-form investigations [and] financial constraints [make] it difficult to conduct field visits or pursue leads across borders.
The Foundation’s programme fundamentally changed this. The model of skills development plus practical reporting was transformative.”
– Fidelis Zvomuya, Journalist, South Africa
The Human Rights ESG and responsible tax practices training was informative and a confidence booster…equipping me with prerequisite skills and competence to implement human rights, ESG and compliance to tax in our supply chain. I now understand the processes and will strive to model a respectful and safe workplace for all…
I’m proud of being responsible for this kind of exposure and the opportunity to work with fellow journalists in the same sector. The training paved the way for my interest in writing about IFFs and shaped my way of pitching that captures the human perspective – changing from simply writing to writing for impact.
Thanks to TRF for helping me understand how important it is for me to report on this sector. The training was an eye opener and an empowerment to my journalistic career.
The valuable insights gained from this training will undoubtedly enhance my ability to effectively apply and integrate human rights considerations into ESG frameworks and responsible tax practices, not only within our initiatives at KGBS, but also with how approach these considerations at a city level.
The in-depth knowledge gained from the Human Rights in ESG and Responsible Tax Practices training will greatly influence my work as an international tax practitioner because I am now more inclined to draft client advisories that embody responsible tax practice and incorporate human rights and sustainability across the board.
How this programme was funded
Norad – the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation – is a professional body under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Norway. Together with their partners and on behalf of Norway, Norad strives for a greener future in a world without poverty. It believes human rights must be respected, and none left out. By way of knowledge and cooperation, Norad ensures that the funds of Norwegian development aid contribute to global development.
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