Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) has called on African parliaments to close legal loopholes that enable illicit financial flows and step up scrutiny of mining contracts and tax incentives to protect public revenue.
Speaking at the sixth Conference and General Meeting of the African Organization of Public Accounts Committees (AFROPAC), held on 2-5 November 2026, TJNA Policy Officer for Strategic Programmes, Aya Douabou, urged lawmakers to act when assessments expose gaps in national laws. She said progress in strengthening legal frameworks must be matched by closer coordination among the agencies responsible for tackling illicit financial flows.
Douabou also called on parliamentary bodies such as AFROPAC to work more closely with civil society organisations, sharing evidence and learning from each otherβs experience to strengthen oversight.
Douabou drew on TJNAβs Anti-IFFs Policy Tracker, which has been piloted in six African countries. The Tracker assesses how countries implement measures to curb illicit financial flows (IFFs) and identifies gaps in laws, policies and coordination among the agencies responsible for fighting IFFs.
In a panel on Africaβs push for fairer debt and tax rules, Douabou said legislatures can protect public revenue by examining the terms and implications of mining contracts and tax incentives before approving them.
βWhen legislators have the tools to scrutinise mining contracts and tax incentives, they can challenge or reject deals that do not serve their countriesβ interests,β Douabou said.
She cited examples involving members of the African Parliamentary Network on Illicit Financial Flows and Taxation, which TJNA convenes. In Liberia, parliament challenged a mining contract. In Uganda, lawmakers granted a one-year extension of the Bujagali corporate income tax waiver pending an ad hoc committee investigation, holding off on a proposed five-year extension.
In its outcome statement, AFROPAC pledged to strengthen public account committees and parliamentary scrutiny of tax exemptions, revenue losses and tax-related IFFs through strategic partnerships and support African cooperation and coordinated advocacy on the UN Tax Convention.
Following the conference, AFROPACβs General Assembly elected Malawi as Chair, while Ghana retained the Vice-Chair position. The Assembly also elected Nigeria as Secretary-General, Chad as Deputy Secretary-General, Eswatini as Treasurer and Kenya as Deputy Treasurer.
For more information, please contact Aya Douabou adouabou[@] taxjusticeafrica.net.
