African MPs moot ways to stop Illicit Financial Flows from the continent

African legislative assemblies met in Tunisia early this month for a training to develop their legislative capacities on tax matters whose aim agenda is to commit to curb Illicit Financial Flow (IFFs) from the continent.

Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) out of Africa is a major concern because of the scale and negative impact of such flows on Africa’s development and governance agenda.  It is estimated that, IFFs from Africa could be as much as US$50 billion per annum. This is approximately double the Official Development assistance (ODA) that Africa receives.

Themed ‘Tracking, Stopping and Retrieving Illicit Financial Flows in Africa’, the workshop will also offer a platform for the law makers to take stock of progress made since inception of the African Parliamentary Network on Illicit Financial Flows and Taxation (APNIFFT).

According to a study conducted by Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), East African countries  lose between 2 percent and 6 per cent of GDP as a result of a their tax incentives system.

Alvin Mosioma, the organization’s Executive Director noted that unfavorable DTAs particularly those signed with tax havens, not only limit taxing rights but also expose the countries to abuse of treaty provisions by unscrupulous investors to aggressively shift their profits and avoid paying their fair share of taxes.

The regional blocks represented include South African Development Community parliamentary forum (SADC), East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), Economic Community of West African States’ parliament (ECOWAS) and Pan African Parliament (PAP).

Key among the subjects discussed include, to share and exchange peer lessons from successful efforts undertaken by the legislature to address IFFs, to equip targeted MPs with the skills to understand, identify, monitor policies and mechanisms that facilitate IFFs from Africa, to develop the legislative capacities to curb IFFs and support domestic resource mobilization, to strengthen the network of parliamentarians for continuous learning and collaborative anti-IFFs campaigns in Africa.