ZRA HOSTS AU – STC 4TH SUB-COMMITTEE ON TAX AND IFFS

The 5-day Summit being held for the African Union (AU)’s Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning & Integration, by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) in Lusaka, is an assembly of experts, policy makers and practitioners from across the African continent.

The platform has set a stage for deliberations on reforms that can boost Africa’s fiscal sovereignty, economic resilience and equitable taxation of the digital economy and multi-national enterprises.

Secretary to the Treasury Felix Nkulukusa officially opened the Summit on Monday, 5^th May, 2025. He did this on behalf of the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane.

Participants were reminded that annually, the African continent loses an estimated $88.6 billion, or 3.7% of the continents GDP, to illicit financial flows, revenue which could be used to fund quality public services such as education, infrastructure and health.

Mr. Nkulukusa called for a unified and broader fight against illicit financial flows, stressing that no single country can fight the scourge of illicit financial flows alone.

“This is why we welcome the emphasis being placed at this meeting on the development of a United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation.”

Mr. Nkulukusa also said that reforms taken by Zambia to enhance transparency and accountability in domestic resource mobilisation are yielding results. He noted that over the past decade, Zambia’s tax-to-GDP ratio increased from 14.1% in 2013 to 16.1% in 2022

​The reforms undertaken include strengthening ZRA’s enforcement capacity and digital tax systems. Other reforms are the establishment of beneficial ownership disclosure requirements for companies and extractive entities and deepening collaboration with regional and global platforms to combat base erosion and profit sharing.

And ZRA Commissioner General, Dingani Banda said Domestic Resource Mobilisation remains fundamental to nations’ political and economic sovereignty.

The Commissioner General called on members attending the Sub-Committee meeting on Tax and Illicit Financial Flows to draw actionable strategies and address challenges of illicit financial flows.

The meeting has seen representation not only from AU Member-States but organisations like the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the Pan African Parliament.

The Acting Commissioner for Economic Development, Tourism, Trade, Industry and Mining at the African Union Moses Vilakati,  emphasised that strong, efficient and equitable domestic resource mobilisation frameworks will foster sustainable and inclusive development in Africa.

The Summit is being held under the theme “Advancing Africa’s Agenda 2063 Through Tax and Fiscal Policy Measures to Enhance Domestic Resource Mobilisation.​