GFI Announces the Winners of the 13th Amartya Sen Essay Prize
October 26, 2026
Global Financial Integrity is pleased to announce the winners of the Thirteenth Amartya Sen Essay Prize Competition. This year’s essays bring fresh research to illicit financial flows across the world, from scam centres and cybercrime in Southeast Asia to trade misinvoicing in Nigeria, conflict minerals in the Great Lakes region and illegal fishing in Indonesia.
Thirteenth Amartya Sen Essay Prize Competition (2026).
First Prize ($2,500). Vedant Abhyankar (Shiv Nadar School, Gurgaon, India): “The Hidden Infrastructure of Cybercrime: Scam Centres, Illicit Finance and State Capacity in Southeast Asia.”
First Prize ($2,500). Olaosebikan Olamiposi Elijah (Osun State University, Nigeria): “When the Invoice Lies: Medical Imports, Trade Misinvoicing and Nigeria’s Export of Health Capacity.”
Second Prize ($1,500). Odongo Ochieng: “Rubaya’s Second Passport: Origin Laundering, Conflict Coltan and Illicit Financial Flows through Rwanda.”
Second Prize ($1,500). Comlan Apollinaire-Fabrice Salavi (African School of Economics, Benin): “The Cost of Unverified Transparency: Firm-Level Evidence on Domestic Illicit Financial Flows in the DRC’s Copper-Cobalt Corridor.”
The jury recognized with honorable mention a fifth strong submission composed by Herbagus Unggul Kawiriawan (Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia): “Deep Waters, Deeper Pockets: Illicit Financial Flows Beyond the Visible Catch in Indonesia’s Fisheries Sector.”
We congratulate all of this year’s winners on their outstanding work. We also thank every student and researcher who submitted an essay. The quality and range of this year’s entries show that a new generation of scholars is taking on the challenge of financial integrity and its role in development.