The African Union Commission (AUC), through its Department of Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry, and Minerals (AU-ETTIM), in collaboration with Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) and the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), is convening a two-day national workshop in Lusaka, Zambia, from 18–19 May 2026 to pilot the Anti-Illicit Financial Flows (Anti-IFFs) Policy Tracker.
The pilot marks a key step in advancing Africa-led efforts to combat illicit financial flows, which continue to undermine economic development, governance, and domestic resource mobilisation throughout the continent.
The Anti-IFFs Policy Tracker is a self-assessment and monitoring tool designed to support policymakers and practitioners in evaluating national systems for addressing IFFs. Through a structured and participatory process, the tool enables countries to identify gaps, assess progress, and generate actionable policy recommendations.
Zambia’s participation builds on successful pilot implementations in Namibia, Uganda, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Liberia, reflecting growing continental momentum to strengthen national responses to IFFs. The initiative was endorsed by the African Union Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning, and Integration, which mandated TJNA, ATAF, and the AUC to lead pilot rollouts of the tool.
The Lusaka workshop will bring together senior representatives and technical experts from key government institutions, regulatory bodies, and oversight agencies, including the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, the Zambia Revenue Authority, the Financial Intelligence Centre, the Bank of Zambia, the Anti-Corruption Commission, and other relevant stakeholders.
The engagement will facilitate a comprehensive assessment of Zambia’s anti-IFFs landscape and support dialogue on strengthening policy, institutional coordination, and enforcement mechanisms.
The pilot will be implemented in two phases. The first phase involves applying the Policy Tracker tool through a multi-stakeholder workshop to assess Zambia’s systems across the four thematic clusters. The second phase will focus on developing and disseminating a country report outlining key findings and practical recommendations to inform national reforms and contribute to continental policy discussions.
By the end of the process, the pilot is expected to identify critical vulnerabilities, strengthen inter-agency coordination, and generate evidence-based recommendations to enhance Zambia’s capacity to combat illicit financial flows. The findings will also contribute to broader African Union efforts to advance transparency, accountability, and sustainable development, and will inform upcoming continental discussions, including the STC meeting scheduled for August 2026.
Zambia’s pilot represents an important milestone in the collective effort to address illicit financial flows in Africa, reinforcing the role of African-led solutions in shaping effective and coordinated responses to one of the continent’s most pressing development challenges.
For more information, please contact Aya Douabou at adouabou[@]taxjusticeafrica.net
