Africa’s long-term growth is in serious danger unless decisive action is taken against cybercrime, corruption, and illicit financial flows (IFFs), which drain more than $80 billion from the continent every year, the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Musa Aliyu, has cautioned.
Speaking at the Realnews 13th Anniversary Lecture in Ikeja, Lagos, Aliyu said Africa’s development blueprint — including the African Union’s Agenda 2063 — will remain out of reach unless countries strengthen cybersecurity systems, reform outdated regulations, and block the channels that enable wealth to illegally leave the continent.
Delivering a lecture on “Cybersecurity, Illicit Financial Flows and Achieving Agenda 2063 in Africa,” he explained that the rise of digital technology has created new opportunities for sophisticated corruption and financial fraud.
Aliyu revealed that one ICPC probe uncovered falsified financial claims by a multinational firm in Nigeria — funds that, he noted, could have completely renovated at least 10 teaching hospitals.
“Each naira lost represents a classroom left undone, a hospital lacking equipment, or a road abandoned,” he said, stressing that illicit financial flows pose both economic and ethical threats.
He pointed to cyber-enabled crimes like business email compromise, ransomware attacks, crypto-laundering, and mobile money-related fraud as major contributors to the growing problem.
In response, the ICPC has launched a Cybercrime and Digital Forensics Unit, expanded its blockchain tracing capacity, strengthened ties with the NFIU and financial institutions, and deepened partnerships with global anti-corruption bodies.
Aliyu, however, admitted that governments are struggling to keep up. Criminal networks, he said, “are faster, wealthier, and more technologically advanced than government agencies,” highlighting limited resources and weak inter-agency coordination as major setbacks.
The event, chaired by former Lagos Chief Judge Ayotunde Phillips, featured experts who emphasised that Africa needs stronger cybersecurity cooperation, greater regulatory modernisation, and improved digital governance.
Realnews publisher Maureen Chigbo called for deeper investigative journalism to expose hidden financial crimes draining national resources.
Other panelists — including Lasbery Oludimu of Yellow Card Financial Inc., Access Bank’s Favour Femi-Oyewole, and NFIU’s Abdulrahman Mustapha — stressed the urgency of safeguarding national databases, updating regulations to match technological trends, and promoting inter-agency collaboration.
In a statement released by ICPC spokesperson Okor Odey, participants urged both government and the private sector to strengthen laws, raise public awareness, and take practical steps to curb illicit flows.
Aliyu concluded by urging African governments to make cybersecurity a core pillar of national development, backed by stronger institutions, secure technology infrastructure, financial transparency, global cooperation, and active civic participation.
“The Africa we seek is possible — but only if we protect our digital systems. Agenda 2063 will remain a dream if cyber-enabled corruption is allowed to thrive,” he warned.
