A guide to support African civil society in UN tax negotiations

UN Member States are currently negotiating a Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. This process,

which brings together all 193 Member States and in which the African Group is playing an active role, marks a departure from the tax governance frameworks developed so far in more restricted forums. It opens the possibility of redefining how taxing rights are allocated between countries, on terms more favourable to African economies.

These negotiations come at a time when domestic resource mobilisation has become a priority for the continent. The decline in official development assistance is increasing national budgets' reliance on tax revenue, even as tax avoidance practices by multinational corporations and the relocation of private wealth to opaque jurisdictions continue to deprive African administrations of substantial resources. Existing financial transparency mechanisms, developed under the OECD, have made it possible to identify these flows without granting the countries concerned the legal means to tax them.

To help civil society organisations and journalists engage with these issues, which are often seen as overly technical, CRADEC, a member of the Tax Justice Network Africa, is publishing the guide "The Best International Tax Transparency Option for Africa." Written in accessible language, the guide presents the main tax transparency instruments currently in place, their limitations for African countries, and the issues at stake in the ongoing UN negotiations.

Read the full document AWARENESS GUIDE FOR CSOS JOURNALISTS pdf