26 – 28 June 2024 (Tunis, Tunisia) – The Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) was a proud participant of the 12th Pan-African conference on illicit financial flows (IFFs) and taxation hosted by the Tax Justice Network-Africa (TJNA), the Department of Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals (ETTIM) of the African Union Commission (AUC), and the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), in Tunis, Tunisia from 26-28 June, 2024. The conference was held under the theme, “Africa’s Tax Agenda in Combatting Illicit Financial Flows: from words to action”, bringing together economists, revenue officials, officers from ministries of finance and CSOs in this crucial discussion. The Pan-African Conference aimed to discuss the progress African countries have made in combating IFFs within the context of changing national, regional, and international tax policies. It also sought to address the ongoing challenges and reaffirm the commitment of key stakeholders to overcoming these issues.
The discussions ably captured the intricate linkages between IFFs and debt dynamics in Africa. The panellists explored how IFFs exacerbate debt vulnerabilities and discussed strategies for enhanced transparency and accountability. IFFs have indeed become a major hindrance to the financing of development in Africa, therefore worsening the problem of unsustainable debt on the continent. These discussions align perfectly with the work PALU is currently undertaking on prudent debt management within the continent and the advocacy around reducing and eventually stopping IFFs out of Africa. Further, this work is also supplemented by the repatriation of stolen assets through international cooperation, legal frameworks, and initiatives like the Common African Position on Asset Recovery (CAPAR) and the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR), and helping to overcome technical, legal and political challenges in tracing, freezing, confiscating and returning illicitly acquired funds to support Africa’s development. It is important to note that whenever IFFs occur, there is a decline in domestic resources that could be useful in development financing, and as such results in a surge of public debt. PALU’s role in this conference included contributions to the conversations and collecting crucial information on the next steps that Africa at the AU level intends to take.
During this conference, there was the collection of best practices and relevant continental-wide initiatives undertaken by institutions and partners in response to the Mbeki High-Level Panel Report (HLP) findings and recommendations in combatting IFFs in Africa, a review of the effectiveness of measures and commitments to curb IFFs, the sharing of ideas on meeting the financing gap for Africa’s development as envisioned under Agenda 2063 and the HLP report findings and recommendations in combatting IFFs in Africa, a compilation of the contributions of the AUC and stakeholders including ATAF, TJNA and others in addressing IFFs and the establishment of a multi-stakeholder partnership to ensure inclusivity and broad-based support. All the mentioned will help seal the gap that allows the outflow of finances which warrants the procurement of more and more debt. Unfortunately, most countries are currently experiencing or approaching debt distress. PALU continues to combat IFFs by focusing on legal enforcement to curb IFFs and promote domestic resource mobilization, aiming to reduce the debt burden across African nations.