By Mariam Abeeb
The Minister of State for Finance, Prof. Taiwo Oyedele has called on African Countries to adopt effective domestic resource mobilization to finance their development efforts.
Prof Oyedele stated this at the closing ceremony of the 5th Session of the Africa Union STC Sub-committee meeting on Tax and Illicit Financial flows held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.
He urged them on diligent execution of the various tax reforms, adding that without execution, tax reforms remain at the paperwork level.
He said three(3) items were necessary as takeaways from the conference which are: strengthening domestic systems by investing in tax administration, deepening collaboration across regions, countries and institutions and staying committed to tax reforms even if it’s difficult.
He called on African Countries to be united just as he said African Countries cannot continue to outsource its development to others.
The Minister stressed the importance of the uptake of ATAF tools for policy development and tax administration efficiency.
He also applauded the work of the ATAF Joint Technical Committees in developing the tools and the partnership with the African Union in rolling out these products to member countries.
He noted that Governance and development issues are critical in tax administration and illicit finance flows and urged African Countries to enhance cross border cooperation and build capacity for fiscal tax administration.
