By Prudence Ngoujou,
The African Union Commission organised a workshop on the Operationalization of the African Union Tax and Illicit Financial Flows Strategies from 3 to 6 April 2023.
The meeting was held in Pretoria, South Africa and brought together various stakeholders in the sphere of Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Africa including African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CODA), Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Secretariat of the High-Level Panel on IFF, and other African experts on the subject
The meeting was organised with the support of the GIZ-Good Financial Governance Programme under the Multi Donor Action Project on Tackling Tax Related Illicit Financial Flows in Africa which is a collaborative initiative commissioned by the European Union (EU), Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland , and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and implemented by African Union Commission (AUC) and Pan African networks: the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), the Collaborative African Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI), the African Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI) and the African Organisation of Public Account Committees (AFROPAC).
This meeting provided an opportunity to operationalise the IFF and Tax strategies of the African Union Commission that was adopted by the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning, and Integration in July 2022 and endorsed by the African Union Heads of State at the 36th ordinary Summit in Lusaka, Zambia.
Furthermore, this workshop served as a Coordination meeting between AUC and other African regional organisations undertaking actions in the area of IFFs. The objective was to foster a collaborative effort among the participating organisations with the aim of addressing overlaps and achieving a coordinated approach towards the fight against IFF and ensuring that all stakeholders involved work together towards a common goal, utilizing their strengths and expertise to achieve sustainable outcomes for Africa.
