Ghana is estimated to have lost about US$54.1 billion to trade-related illicit financial flows (IFFs between 2013 and 2022), ranking it third among the ten African countries most affected, according to a new report by Global Financial Integrity (GFI).
The report, titled Trade-Related Illicit Financial Flows in Africa, 2013–2022, points to deep-seated structural weaknesses in Ghana’s international trade system, particularly in its dealings with global trading partners.
Based on an analysis that compares countries’ declared exports with what their partners record as imports, GFI estimates that nearly 28 per cent of Ghana’s trade over the period may have been misinvoiced, mispriced, or entirely unaccounted for.
This suggests that close to US$3 out of every US$10 in Ghana’s international trade flows may be linked to illicit practices.
Although South Africa and Nigeria recorded higher absolute losses—estimated at US$478 billion and US$77.7 billion respectively—Ghana’s losses exceed those of several regional peers, including Côte d’Ivoire (US$47.7 billion) and Kenya (US$47.5 billion).
GFI attributes Ghana’s elevated exposure largely to opacity in key export sectors such as gold, cocoa, and crude oil, where pricing irregularities and unequal bargaining power between local producers and multinational buyers create opportunities for systematic under-invoicing.
The report further notes that trade with developed economies, including G7 countries, accounted for an estimated US$20.5 billion in illicit outflows over the decade.
This represents about 25 per cent of Ghana’s total trade with advanced economies and underscores the scale of wealth leakage from natural resource exports to the Global North.
Beyond the macroeconomic impact, GFI highlights significant social consequences associated with high levels of illicit financial flows. Countries affected by elevated IFFs, the report notes, spend on average 25 per cent less on health and 58 per cent less on education than comparable peers.
For Ghana, GFI argues that even partial recovery of the US$54.1 billion lost over the period could significantly boost funding for schools, healthcare facilities, and critical infrastructure that remain under-resourced.
To stem the outflows, the report recommends that Ghana modernise its customs administration by deploying advanced data analytics and risk-based inspection systems to identify suspicious trade transactions in real time.
It also calls for the establishment of comprehensive beneficial ownership registries to expose the true owners of companies and trusts, thereby limiting the use of shell entities to conceal illicit gains.
In addition, GFI encourages the adoption of blockchain technology or similar digital tools to facilitate the automatic exchange of trade valuation data between countries, helping to close information gaps that enable misinvoicing.
Strengthening regional cooperation is also identified as critical, with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) highlighted as a potential platform to harmonise trade invoice verification across borders and improve the detection of discrepancies.
Finally, the report stresses the importance of robust legal enforcement, urging authorities to criminalise trade misinvoicing, impose meaningful penalties, and protect whistleblowers who expose tax evasion and related offences.
GFI warns that without decisive reforms, Ghana’s economic sovereignty and ambitions for inclusive growth could be undermined. Conversely, effective action, the report argues, could reposition the country from a net exporter of illicit outflows to one that more effectively harnesses its trade and natural resource wealth for domestic development.
