YTJN, African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, the United Nations (UN), Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders will be in Tunis, Tunisia for the Pan-African Network Conference on Fighting Illicit Financial Flows in Africa from June 26 to 28, 2024.
The conference, themed ‘Africa’s Tax Agenda in Combatting Illicit
Financial Flows: From Words to Action’, will bring together senior officials in
key government ministries and departments, international organizations, civil
society organizations, revenue authorities, development partners and
parliamentarians to engage in high-level discussion on the substantial strides
African countries have taken in combating illicit financial flows considering
the evolving dynamics of national, regional, and international taxation
policies.
The fight
against IFFs is integral in ensuring that all illicit movements of capital from
developing countries are regulated, so that they can no longer erode the public
finance, governance, and progress of developing countries. IFFs drain and
deplete tax collections while also facilitating corruption and depriving
countries of their greatest resource: citizenry. IFFs are detrimental because
they finance criminal and terrorist activities that support human rights
violations, climate destruction, environmental damage, and other bad actors.
These shocking consequences and broad scale of IFFs necessitate a collaborative
worldwide effort of civil society, global partnerships, organizations, and
actors taking demands and massive stands so we can make needed changes and end
them. The study looks at the potential survivors who can actively engage in the
fight against IFFs, the youth in an approach on how they can join or the
networks they can access as part of a solution.
Illicit
financial flows (IFFs) are funds which are illegally earned, transferred or
utilized. These funds are transferred across the border in an illegal way by
mining magnates and business tycoons who do not want to pay legitimate taxes.
They are an outcome of home policies in global and domestic settings. A myriad
of causes are responsible for the existence of illicit financial flows such as
secrecy which allows easy transfer of IFFs, excessive transaction pricing, tax
abuse, etc. To highlight the consequences of illicit financial flows, they
reduce domestic resources, hurt economic growth and public institutions, and
provide social amenities.
On the 28th of June, YTJN and other partners will be holding a side
session (7) focusing on DRM and Debt Management;
0830 – 0945hrs (Tunis time)
- Side
session 1: From Resolution to Action: Feminist perspectives on
democratizing the UN Tax process for a gender-just and inclusive global
tax system
- Side
session 2 - Enablers of IFFs in Africa and Why a Beneficial Ownership
Transparency Standard for Africa is in line with Global Financial
Reforms
- Side
session 3 - IFFs, Debt and Finance for Development - The Case for
Reforming Global Financial Architecture
1000-1115hrs (Tunis time)
- Side
session 4 - The parallel processes that distract Africa from the UN
path
- Side
session 5 - Investigative journalists as allies in the fight against
IFFs
- Side
session 6 - Leveraging on tax policy as a tool to Curb IFFs and attain the
SDGs
1130 –1245hrs (Tunis time)
- Side
session 7 - Navigating the Challenges of Domestic Resources Mobilisation
in Africa and its Debt Management Implications
- Side
session 8 - Corporate Power and Africa's Competitive Advantage: Illicit
Financial Flows and Inequality in the Agricultural and Extractive
Industries in Africa
- Side
session 9 - Combatting Illicit Financial Flows to Transform Education
Financing in Africa: Africa’s Tax Agenda and the AU Year of
Education
For more information about our participation at the conference, please
contact John Paul Kafuko at jonkafuko@ytjn.org , Allan Muhereza Murangira at
mamurangira@ytjn.org and Lewis Ssemujju at lewis@ytjn.org
