PALU Panelists Highlight Need for Africa’s Tax Sovereignty in a Changing Int’l Tax Landscape

Addis Ababa, October 117, 2024 (FBC) – Panelists at the 14th Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) annual conference in Addis Ababa highlighted that Africa as a group needs to design itself tax treaties that are going to guide its fiscal sovereignty.

The 14th PALU annual conference has been taking place in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, since yesterday.

Panelist Lyla Latif at the occasion urged the African Group at the United Nations to rethink its approach to conceptualize the tax system in a way that is going to guide the fiscal sovereignty of Africa.

She emphasized the need to move away from colonial-era tax systems, advocating for a framework that recognizes Africa’s independence and capacity to shape its own fiscal policies.

“Africa Group at UN, let’s have a new way in rethinking how we are going to conceptualize our tax system. We want to break away from historical colonial past and say now Africa is independent, Africa can sit on the table, Africa has great minds and we can now decide for ourselves the tax treaties that are going to guide our fiscal sovereignty,” she underscored.

Latif underlined that this year the UN Framework Convention is going to create more binding force in terms of redesigning what international tax system is going to look like.

African nations need to design tax treaties reflecting their unique circumstances and needs, she pointed out; saying that the committee has begun drafting terms of reference for the proposed UN Framework Convention on Tax, setting the stage for discussions that will span from 2025 onward.

Latif stressed the need for stronger tax rules that favor source-based taxation over residence-based taxation, enabling African nations to retain more revenue.

“Basically, we need to come up with stronger tax rules that are going to result in more source based taxation rather than residents tax rate.”

Echoing Latif’s opinions, Panelist Lydiah Mose on her part emphasized the importance of long-term solutions tailored to Africa’s economic realities.

She added that strong regional collaboration is of paramount importance to ensure voices of Africa are heard and to implement rules that work for Africa’s economy, remarking that the tax rules at draft have been developed by OECD with developed countries in mind.

“We need to think about, in the long run, what are the solutions that we need to come up with that work for our economy. These are rules that have been developed by OECD with developed countries in mind. So, we need to strengthen our regional collaboration to be able to have a voice at the table to implement rules that work for our economy.”