APNIFFT

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About Us

Who We Are

African Parliamentary Network on Illicit Financial Flows and Taxation (APNIFFT) is a flagship program coordinated by Tax Justice Network (TJNA) with an overall objective to provide an opportunity for its members, the African legislators, to strategize, learn from each other and build their capacities in tackling Illicit financial flows and tax injustice in the continent. The platform facilitates its members to undertake advocacy-related dialogue and debates in a simplified manner on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs), tax governance, and domestic resource mobilization (DRM) in Africa.

The APNIFFT parliamentary caucuses are groups that bring together members of parliament from different African regions and countries and provide a platform for them to indicate their policy preferences or priorities without political inhibition.

The members of parliament in these caucuses are committed to the network’s mission and principles and strengthen the position of parliamentarians among development stakeholders.

The Specific Objectives:

1. Act as an avenue through which MPs’ capacities and knowledge on tax justice issues can be strengthened.

2. Provide a platform for robust policy engagements and debates on tax justice and IFFs issues at a national and regional level.

3. Serve as platforms for information exchange through which members from different parliamentary committees can meet, interact, relate and come up with bipartisan legislation.

4. Provide a platform where civil society organizations can freely interact with MPs and promote utilization of their research outputs.

5. Act as a safeguard and a soundboard to monitor compliance with legislative and executive branch actions on tax justice issues.

APNIFFT Successes

a) Comprehensive Governance Structure

APNIFFT is governed through a comprehensive governance structure to enhance efficiency and guide its strategic engagements.

  1.    A functioning steering committee comprising of regional coordinators from the four Sub-Saharan RECs of Africa.
  2.    Adoption of a constitution to guide the strategy, structure and engagements of APNIFFT.

b) Continental Coverage

APNIFFT currently enjoys continental coverage across Africa. Some of our highlights include: 

  1. We have 855 members registered as members of APNIFFT and have trained over 1,350 MPs since 2017 in 43 countries across Africa.
  2. We have launched active national caucuses in 28 countries. 
  3. APNIFFT caucuses are spread in the 5 African regions including North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa.

c) Wide thematic Focus

Taxation and illicit financial flows 

  • Taxation and natural resource governance. 
  • Review of mining contracts and extractives.
  • Review of how tax policy promotes equity. 
  • Promoting policies that enhance tax transparency such as beneficial ownership Transparency (BOT) and the exchange of tax information (EOI).

Promoting domestic resource mobilization (DRM) efforts

  • Championing national level tax expenditures review processes.  
  • Promotion of progressive tax raising measures. 
  • Enhancing the review of tax policies on the taxation of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs)

Debt and development: 

  1. Exploring the implications of debt on economic development 
  2. Enhancing the role of parliamentarians in ensuring responsible borrowing and lending practices.

Trade policy analysis: 

    • Analyzing the role of trade policies in facilitating or curbing IFFs, with a focus on regional cooperation and integration.
    • Promoting coherence of trade, tax, and debt policies at a national, regional and continental level.

APNIFFT Successes

a) Comprehensive Governance Structure

APNIFFT is governed through a comprehensive governance structure to enhance efficiency and guide its strategic engagements.

1. A functioning steering committee comprising of regional coordinators from the four Sub-Saharan RECs of Africa.
2. Adoption of a constitution to guide the strategy, structure and engagements of APNIFFT.

 

b) Continental Coverage

APNIFFT currently enjoys continental coverage across Africa. Some of our highlights include: 

1. We have 855 members registered as members of APNIFFT and have trained over 1,350 MPs since 2017 in 43 countries across Africa.
2. We have launched active national caucuses in 28 countries. 
3. APNIFFT caucuses are spread in the 5 African regions including North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa.

c) Wide thematic Focus

Taxation and natural resource governance.Review of mining contracts and extractives.

1. Taxation and natural resource governance.
2. Review of mining contracts and extractives.
3. Review of how tax policy promotes equity.
4. Promoting policies that enhance tax transparency such as beneficial ownership Transparency (BOT) and the exchange of tax information (EOI).

Debt and development: 

1. Exploring the implications of debt on economic development.
2. Enhancing the role of parliamentarians in ensuring responsible borrowing and lending practices.

Promoting domestic resource mobilization (DRM) efforts:

1. Championing national level tax expenditures review processes.
2. Promotion of progressive tax raising measures.
3. Enhancing the review of tax policies on the taxation of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs)

Trade policy analysis:

1. Analyzing the role of trade policies in facilitating or curbing IFFs, with a focus on regional cooperation and integration.
2. Promoting coherence of trade, tax, and debt policies at a national, regional and continental level.

APNIFFT Successes

Comprehensive Governance Structure

Continental Coverage

Wide thematic focus

Key Legislative Outcomes

Tabling and advocating for key legislation to promote anti-IFF efforts at country level

APNIFFT MPs have worked on bills such as:

1. Enactment of the amendments to the Companies Act to include Beneficial ownership requirements in South Africa, Zambia, Kenya and Uganda.
2. Legislative Amendments to include anti IFFs provisions in policies on management of mineral resources in Namibia
3. Amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering ACT of 2015 in Liberia
4. Legislative amendments to promote fair taxation and enhance domestic resource mobilization Mining ACT and the Anti-Corruption ACT in Liberia.
5. Amendments to the Excise Duty Act in Kenya, Nigeria, DRC, Zambia, and Ghana.
6. Amendment to the Kenyan Treaty Making and Ratification Act.

Providing thought leadership

1. Development and adoption of MPs toolkit on IFFs and tax justice in Africa.
2. Development of MPs toolkit on tax expenditures. 
3. Development of MPs toolkit on review of mining toolkits.

Advocacy on anti-IFF policies at the national level

APNIFFT caucuses have been engaged in strategic advocacy with key outcomes in:

1. Mining contracts review in DRC.
2. Review and cancellation of a contract awarding exclusive rights to one multinational over use of the railway network in Liberia.
3. Development of the model Public Finance Management (PFM) model Bill for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC);
4. Motions on IFFs raised in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda.

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