POLICYMAKERS and tax experts have converged in Lusaka to chart lasting solutions aimed at curbing Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Africa, a persistent challenge that continues to undermine domestic resource mobilisation efforts across the continent, including in Zambia.
Africa currently loses an estimated US$80 to US$90 billion annually through illicit financial practices, with Zambia alone forfeiting about US$3 billion each year.
Speaking during the official opening of the five-day Fourth Sub-Committee on Tax and IFFs Conference yesterday, Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane stressed that no single country could tackle the scourge of IFFs in isolation.
He called for solidarity among African nations in addressing the issue.
The meeting, organised by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) in collaboration with the African Union Commission, African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), brought together regional stakeholders to deliberate on actionable strategies.
In a speech read on his behalf by Secretary to the Treasury Felix Nkulukusa, Dr Musokotwane noted that Zambia, like many African countries, had faced difficulties dealing with aggressive tax avoidance schemes and opaque ownership of commercial assets.
However, he said, progress was being made.
“That is why we welcome the emphasis this meeting places on the development of the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, an initiative Zambia fully supports,” he said.
Dr Musokotwane highlighted recent reforms aimed at promoting greater transparency and accountability in Zambia’s domestic resource mobilisation.
These included enhancing ZRA’s enforcement capacity and digital tax systems, introducing beneficial ownership disclosure requirements for companies and extractive entities, and deepening collaboration with regional and global platforms to combat base erosion and profit shifting.
“These reforms are bearing fruit,” he added. “Over the past decade, Zambia’s tax-to-GDP ratio increased from 14.1 percent in 2013 to 16.1 percent in 2022. Building on this trajectory, we aim to increase domestic revenues to at least 21.3 percent of GDP by 2025, and 22.2 percent by 2026.”
He underscored that Zambia’s efforts must be viewed as part of a broader continental and global push to curb IFFs and strengthen fiscal systems.
Meanwhile, ZRA Commissioner General Dingani Banda reaffirmed the authority’s commitment to tackling IFFs, strengthening tax administration, and enhancing Africa’s influence in global tax governance.
“This gathering comes at a pivotal moment for Africa as we collectively strive to advance the goals of Agenda 2063 — our shared vision for a prosperous, integrated, and self-reliant continent,” Mr Banda said. “Tax and fiscal policy measures lie at the heart of this ambition, serving as the foundation for domestic resource mobilisation, economic resilience, and sustainable development.”
Also speaking at the event, African Union Commissioner for Economic Development, Tourism, Trade, Industry, and Mining, Moses Vilakati, stressed that sustainable and inclusive development could not be achieved without strong, efficient, and equitable domestic resource mobilisation frameworks.
“Goal 20 of Agenda 2063 specifically calls for Africa to take full responsibility for financing its own development,” Mr Vilakati said. “In the face of dwindling official development assistance and limited concessionary financing, domestic resource mobilisation remains the continent’s last hope for funding its development agenda.”
He added that the Sub-Committee on Tax and IFFs had become a vital platform for shaping Africa’s collective response to the critical issues of tax policy, tax administration, and the fight against illicit financial flows.
“The work of this Sub-Committee is crucial in laying the groundwork for fiscal strategies that will reduce dependency, foster accountability, and ultimately finance Africa’s development priorities with African re sources,” Mr Vilakati said.
