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TJNA will be participating in the upcoming European Commission’s InfoPoint hybrid conference themed ‘Fostering Change: Tax-motivated illicit financial flows’ which will be held in Brussels, Belgium, on May 17, 2024.
The conference will bring together tax experts, civil society organisations, government representatives and multilateral institutions to share actionable solutions to the current challenges posed by tax-motivated IFFs.
The conference will feature high-level discussions around the recommendations from a recent study on Tax-Motivated Illicit Financial Flows, which recognises that many of these flows are driven by sophisticated schemes that exploit loopholes in the current international tax system.
Discussions will cover a broad spectrum of IFF-related issues, including characteristics of tax motivated IFFs that encompass both illegal (tax evasion) and illicit activities (tax avoidance) and their impact on African development.
The economic consequences of tax-related IFFs are disproportionately affecting Africa and other developing regions with high poverty rates, where they drain resources needed for development. Thus, the discussions will focus on policy and operational strategies to combat tax-motivated IFFs.
The study highlights the difficulty in measuring IFFs and their impact on policy formulation, given the intricate nature of tax-motivated IFF schemes. Thus, to effectively combat IFFs, African countries need to leverage various sophisticated tools and harmonise their efforts.
This requires strong cooperative governance and policy implementation, enhanced data analysis capabilities, and effective information sharing domestically and internationally.
TJNA will also present its flagship anti-IFFs policy tracker tool which seeks to monitor the implementation of national-level policies to curb IFFs on the African continent. The tracker draws from recommendations reports such as the High-Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa (Mbeki Panel) and the High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency (FACTI Panel).
The conference will also consider global initiatives by entities like the United Nations, European Commission, African Union, and other international organisations to enhance strategic international cooperation, stronger partnerships, and innovative capacity-building measures to combat tax-related IFFs.
Participants will explore future directions to accelerate progress in this critical area.
Featured Speakers
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Antti Karhunen, Director, DG INTPA E, Sustainable Finance, Investment and Jobs; Economy that Works for the People
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Dr. Patrick Ndzana Olomo, Head of Economic Policy and Sustainable Development, African Union Commission (AUC)
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Logan Wort, Executive Secretary, African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF)
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Chenai Mukumba, Executive Director, Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA)
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Dr. Silvio Antonio Marques, State Prosecutor, São Paulo
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Kathy Nicolaou-Manias, Director, Argent Econ Consult
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Anca-Maria Szigeti, Senior Policy Officer, DG INTPA E1, Macro-economic Analysis, Fiscal Policies, Budget Support, Global Partnerships with IFIs
Register to attend: https://tjna.me/4dEA3jy