





The leaders committed to “strengthen measures to curb corrupt borrowing and lending, including by enhancing domestic legal frameworks as appropriate, including clarifications regarding the authority to borrow, and fully utilizing UNCAC and its Conference of the State Parties to explore options to make such contracts unenforceable. We will establish a platform for borrower countries with support from existing institutions, and a UN entity serving as its secretariat.
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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.
This year’s COP, framed as the “implementation COP,” aimed to move beyond promises and focus on how to make climate commitments real. Yet, deep disagreements on finance, trade, fossil fuel pathways, and other areas delayed progress until the final hours. More than 80 countries pushed for a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels, while many advocates and developing nations called for stronger commitments on climate finance, but the final text fell short of expectations.
YTJN & ICOYACA are collaborating to combine their resources and expertise to jointly carry out activities like policy engagements, caravans bazaars, campaigns, etc. aimed at creating awareness of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) amongst the youth.
Fiscal discipline reduces unsustainable debt levels, freeing resources for investments in sectors like agriculture, tech, and green industries, which are critical for youth employment.