African ministers and officials of the African Union (AU) have called for efficient tax administrations as well as cutting off illicit financial flows in order to collect adequate resources needed to finance programs geared to attain the continent’s aspirations of Agenda 2063.
The officials were speaking on the second day of a three-day continental ministerial retreat convened to discuss the second ten-year plan of the Agenda 2063 spanning from 2024 to 2033, which is held in Kigali, the Rwandan capital.
South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor said key barriers to financing the continental activities in the first 10 years of implementation include illicit financial flows, high debt levels, and inefficiency of tax administrations to collect adequate revenue resources.
“Implementing Agenda 2063 requires us to set up an effective financing framework which must ensure predictability of resources and effective public partnerships with the private sector,” Pandor said during a panel discussion.
“We should attempt as Members of the African Union to fund the operational budget of the Union fully and progressively move toward attaining 75 percent for program budget and 25 percent on peace support operations,” said Pandor, noting that domestic financing has proved to be challenging.
Rwandan Finance Minister Uzziel Ndagijimana noted that member states are struggling to pull their weight in financing while dealing with lower economic growth, decreasing revenue, and the impact of COVID-19.
Albert Muchanga, African Union commissioner for economic development, called for the promotion of rapid economic growth by coming up with key actions to achieve inclusive economic growth as well as cutting tax incentives in order to increase domestic financing.
Africa Union’s Agenda 2063 was adopted by the AU Assembly in 2015. The Agenda envisages Africa where every nation will be in the middle-income category, be more integrated and able to resolve conflicts amicably, with more empowered citizens as well as a strong Africa acting as an influential global player.
