Researchers and stakeholders discuss how to curb commodity-trade related illicit financial flows to finance the SDGs

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Prof. Gilles Carbonnier and Dr. Fred Dzanku take turns to address the media

Prof. Gilles Carbonnier and Dr. Fred Dzanku take turns to address the media

Prof. Gilles Carbonnier and Dr. Fred Dzanku take turns to address the media

On 25 January 2022, the team of researchers of the Curbing Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) project invited stakeholders and media representatives for a workshop on “Curbing Commodity-Trade Related Illicit Financial Flows: Policy Options for Ghana.” The workshop featured evidence from the IFF project alongside insights and experiences from mining sector players.

The IFF project explored how commodity-trade-related illicit financial flows from Ghana can be significantly reduced in order to finance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Dr. Fred Dzanku, Project Coordinator gave a brief welcome statement, following which  Prof. Gilles Carbonnier, Principal Investigator; Dr. Ama Ahene-Codjoe, Senior Economics Researcher and Ms. Jennifer Hall, Legal Researcher took turns to give presentations highlighting key findings and recommendations of the project.

This set the tone for a four-members panel discussion that featured experts from key sector organisations: Precious Minerals Marketing Corporation (PMMC), IFF Statistical Measurement in Ghana, Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), and Ghana Chamber of Mines.

An open discussion session allowed participants to interact with the research team and panelists, enriching the discussion with their comments, insights, and questions.

A section of participants
A section of participants

The six-year (2017 – 2022) Curbing Illicit Financial Flows project was implemented by a multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Ghana, in collaboration with the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP) of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies with project sites being Ghana, Laos, and Switzerland.

The workshop was held at the conference facility of ISSER, which is the host institute of the IFF project.

Please, read the press release on the research here

Below are selected online media reports drawing on discussions at the workshop.

Ghana News Agency

Business and Financial Times

MyJoyOnline

Daily Graphic

CitiBusinessNews

Ghanaweb

Tags: 

illicit financial flows

gold

mining

SDGs