From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The 11th Pan-African Conference on Illicit Financial Flows and Taxation (PAC) will be held in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, 11th Pan African on 22nd to 24th November 2023, according to a statement issued by the Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), a pan-African organisation and a member of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice.
The conference is organised by Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) and The African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF).
It explained that at the conference, tax stakeholders will unpack domestic resource mobilisation and illicit financial flows issues in Africa.
It said the conference offers tax stakeholders a forum to discuss how African nations can lead international discussions that are starting to directly impact issues related to domestic resource mobilisation and illicit financial flows.
“The conference brings together officials working on tax issues from Pan-African Organizations, tax administrations, ministries of Finance, civil society organisations, parliamentarians, and academia/researchers from Africa and beyond, under the theme “Making Global Tax Governance Work for Africa”, the statement read.
According to TJNA, the conference is a platform that will enable the attendees to contribute to the development of a common African position on key international conversations that affect African countries’ efforts to raise domestic resources.
“It is also a platform to identify actions and solutions for actors such as African governments, parliamentarians, civil society organisations, the private sector and other policy players that are key in mobilising domestic resources within the context and will present the opportunity to grow partnerships and collaborations between the different actors”, the stated added.
According to TJNA, to meet its development aspirations, Africa will need additional resources to respond to global crises and to realign with the priorities of both the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2063.
Quoting Africa Economic Outlook 2022, TJNA said the continent’s additional financial needs for 2020-2022 were estimated at $432 billion. Africa’s Annual Sustainable Development Goals financing gap is around $190 billion (African Union 2023).
“This gap can be bridged by developing regional value chains, improving equitable and fair entry to accesible markets through intra-Africa trade and revenue mobilisation through effective and inclusive tax collection and combatting IFFs.
“PAC 2023 explores the aspect of forging partnerships and collaborations to promote and mobilise action amongst tax sector players. Strengthening these alliances is essential for African countries to take the lead on international conversations on domestic resource mobilisation and illicit financial flows in the continent.“
