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Reimagining The Mbeki Report For A New Generation
n 2015, the Mbeki Panel on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) unveiled a truth that shook the continent: Africa was losing over $50 billion every year through illicit financial flows, all these are resources that could have transformed education, health, and infrastructure. Reports by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), UNCTAD and TJNA in recent years have underscored that these amounts are even higher in 2025. The report did more than expose a crisis; it offered a roadmap for reclaiming Africa’s wealth and strengthening domestic resource mobilization.
A decade later, that call for action still resonates, but it now meets a generation ready to act. The Youth for Tax Justice Network (YTJN) represents this renewed energy. It demonstrates the work young people are doing to advance the Mbeki Report’s vision through advocacy, policy dialogue, and youth-led campaigns that push for greater transparency, fair taxation, and accountability across Africa and beyond.
YTJN Nairobi Tax Talks RoundUp: Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to Develop a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation
For youth participants, we see a distinct perspective, emphasizing that the current tax system often leaves Global South countries underfunded, limiting investments in youth employment, education, and digital access. We continue to highlight that failing to adapt taxation to modern digital economies risks perpetuating inequalities: large digital corporations operating in developing countries can avoid paying fair shares, while young entrepreneurs face regulatory burdens that stifle innovation. Civil society representatives reinforced these points, calling for tax rules that account for historical disparities between wealthy and developing nations. Discussions reflected a tension between protecting traditional national revenue sources and reforming systems to ensure equitable contributions from globalized business models.
East African Community Youth Policy 2013
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Third Session of UN Tax Convention Negotiations Kicks Off in Nairobi as Governments Begin Text-Based Discussions
For young people across Africa and the world, these negotiations represent more than just policy debates. They offer an unprecedented opportunity to shape an economic future focused on intergenerational equity, where every resource counts, and where fiscal justice becomes a tool for equality, innovation, and opportunity.
YTJN Nairobi Tax Talks RoundUp: Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to Develop a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation Day 6
Delegates agreed on the importance of preventing disputes before they occur. Yet tools like advance pricing agreements, joint audits, simultaneous examinations, and cooperative compliance programs remain unevenly accessible. Key views included support for a legal basis enabling cross-border preventive cooperation, strong calls for capacity-building, information-sharing, and improved access to timely data, and emphasis on strengthening information systems and exchange-of-information frameworks. Interests were also seen in optional cross-border prevention mechanisms backed by future best practices and CoP-led support.
