Africa boosted fiscal revenues in 2023 through improved tax transparency — report
Seven African countries collected $2.4 billion of additional revenue through tax transparency, exchange of information and related measures in 2023 than over the 13 preceding years combined, a new progress report for the so-called Africa Initiative has found.
Launched at a recent 15th Meeting of the Africa Initiative in Lomé, Togo, the Tax Transparency in Africa 2024: Africa Initiative Progress Report makes a strong case for an ever-sharpening political attention on the matters of transparency and international tax co-operation. Since 2009, African countries have identified over $4.1 billion in additional revenue as a result of the use of the exchange of information on request (EOIR), automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI), and voluntary disclosure programs (VDPs). International cooperation based on transparency and effective exchange of information standards for tax purposes has become a crucial tool in addressing global challenges of tax avoidance and evasion.
According to the Tax Transparency in Africa 2023: Africa Initiative Progress Report, the countries on the continent lose up to $60 billion annually in illicit financial flows. The report also highlighted that African countries identified over $340 million through exchange of information on request between 2019 and 2022. Kenya, as one of the African members of the Global Forum, has been rated ‘Largely Compliant (LC)’ on EOIR implementation during a recent 46th Peer Review Group meeting at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris, France. “This collaboration is pivotal in maintaining the integrity of the EOI standard and enhancing efforts to combat tax evasion, corruption, and money laundering,” Humphrey Wattanga, Commissioner General of Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) noted.
