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| Participants in a past event |
The Network says that with the onslaught of the global coronavirus pandemic, there are concerns that the scale and scope of Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) could be increasing.
“While authorities focus on the pandemic, other actors should not be distracted,” said the executive director, Alvin Mosioma.
On June 24,2020, TJNA marked its 7th Edition with the theme: Tax Justice Advocacy: Increasing Participation of Civil Society Organizations.
“(CSOs) and Journalists through Capacity Building. The 7 the edition of the International Tax Justice Academy (ITJA), which is organized virtually, brings together participants from the entire continent drawn from the civil society, media, trade unions, policy makers and academia,” said Mosioma.
Some of the themes that ITJA id holding in this year’s session, include: taxing the digitalized economy, tax justice advocacy strategy, IFFs, and Africa’s investment regimes, financial secrecy, investigative journalism, amongst others.
“Africa is endowed with significant natural resource wealth and, with good husbandry, could finance its development,” Mosioma stated.
It says that there, however, exist illegal cross border movement of money and capital that threaten the continent’s sustainable development and have been growing every year.
TJNA says that if there has been a growing recognition of the threat that Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) pose on the continent’s integrity and stability of its financial system in normal times, how about during a pandemic?
Africa is home to the world’s largest arable landmass, second largest and longest rivers (the Nile and the Congo), and its second-largest tropical forest.
According to a study by the African Development Bank Group, the total value added of its fisheries and aquaculture sector alone is estimated at USD 24 billion.
During the academy, TJNA endevours to empower the target groups with skills to identify, track, and report illicit outflows from the continent.
Mosioma said that while there is dependence on the academia and research institutions for publication of scientific studies, it is the role of the civil society to advocate for increased transparency around public revenues and expenditures.
