Tanzania Joins APNIFFT To Spearhead War Against Illicit Financial Flows, Tax Injustice -

By VALENTINE OFORO, Dodoma

TANZANIA has officially become a member of the African Parliamentary Network on Illicit Financial Flows and Tax Justice (APNIFFT), the vital stage which is projected to give the country a fresh impetus to spearhead the fight against smuggling of the country’s revenues.

Despite so far adopting and implementing diverse measures to combat illicit financial flows (IFFs), Tanzania loses an estimated $1.5 billion annually in revenue to trade-based money laundering (TBML), which is a deprivation of the country’s much-needed tax revenues.

In a further grim revelation, it has been unveiled that out of each 10USD that is being injected into the country in terms of foreign aid, at least 9 USD is being smuggled back through illicit financial flows.

The African Parliamentary Network on Illicit Financial Flows and Tax (APNIFFT) is a network of members of Parliament from across the continent who have expressed a desire and commitment to spearhead the fight against illicit financial flows in Africa.

Gracing the official launching of the African Parliamentary Network On Illicit Financial Flow And Tax Justice (APNIFFT), Tanzania Chapter, yesterday in Dodoma Capital City, the Deputy speaker, Mussa Hazzan Zungu expressed high expectations that the development will play meaningful role to assist the country to uproot a wave of the unwanted economic injustice vice.

“Tanzania, like most of the Sub-Saharan African countries is experiencing a nagging economic challenge of having the country’s prestigious resources and needed revenues being smuggled outside by some unfaithful investors companies through tax cheating,” he expressed.

Thus, becoming an active member of APNIFFT, according to him, the country’s lawmakers will now join hands with their counterparts from other countries to set and implement useful campaigns for ensuring Tanzania is benefiting accordingly from its resources endowments, and not otherwise.

“The major role of the members of the Parliament under this chapter will be, among others, to advise and lobby the government to strengthen investment policies and regulations for ensuring the country benefiting accordingly from the influx of foreign investors,” he detailed.

Moreover, he added that the sixth phase government was working round the clock to ensure there are enough local factories for the value addition to diverse products, in order to plug the loopholes for unnecessary exportation of resources and employment.

So far, the speaker said the government has set good investment policies which focus to attain the win-win situation between Tanzania and the foreign investment companies, informed that more efforts are however being put in place to better the side.

Chairperson of the Tanzania Parliamentary Network on Illicit Financial Flows and Tax Justice, Abdullah Ali Mwinyi said the country was losing billions of money through ‘legal’ and illicit financial flows.

He expressed existing weaknesses in the country’s foreign investment contracts that have been creating a loop hole for some unfaithful giant companies to invest into the country for their own economic gains.

” Most of the major foreign companies have been injecting billions of money in the country, but for their own benefit and not for the country. What they do is just to temper with the legal weaknesses in our investment contracts policies and regulations, ” he said.

He communicated that through the establishment chapter, APNIFFT, they will stand at forefront to ensure the government is setting and monitoring tight investment policies and regulations, especially towards the foreign companies that engage into the oil and gas, as well as mineral sectors.

“Oil and gas, and minerals stands among the country’s key economic sectors, and they’re the ones that most of the investors are using as their windows to parasite our economy and revenues,” he informed.

For instance, he said in a period of the past few years, the government issued a total of ten special mining licenses, the contracts that involved billions of money, and more other ten such licenses are under process of being granted, added: “Issuance of such vital licenses calls for vigilance and vast legal knowledge on proper international policies and regional in order to assure the country realising the needed revenues, “

During her remarks at the launching event, the chairperson of the African Parliamentary Network on Illicit Financial Flows and Tax Justice (APNIFFT), Dr Khanyisile Tshabalala from South Africa, challenged the local MPs under the Tanzania chapter to the patriotic activists for their county’s resources endowments.

“Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) is a dangerous venom that continues to eat away the economy of many countries across the continent thus, you must stand firmly to voice for the voices of the common voiceless Tanzanians,” she challenged.

And she added: ” I want to tell you, the meaning of been a leader in Africa, and Tanzania as well is to be a disrupter of all unjustice systems that rooted from the colonialism era, and set fresh systems for ensuring your people benefiting from a large share from their national cake,” she urged the MPs.

She added that it was pity, injustice and disconcerting to see the poor manner to which the African continent, which is provide the bedrock for all prestigious minerals in the globe continues to suffer from poverty at the expense of the western countries, saying it was time to unite and turn the clock into the right path.

Held under the theme of MP’s Leadership in Combating Illicit Financial Flows and Tax Injustices’ the event which was coordinated and the auspices of Policy Forum attracted a number of parliamentarians who form the African Parliamentary Network on Ilicit Financial Flows and Tax Justice (APNIFFT) Tanzania Chapter.

Semkae Kilonzo, the Executive Director of Policy Forum expressed during the event that it was sad that between USD50 and USD80 billion are annually smuggled outside the African continent, the deprived move that weakens the countries financial capability to spur their economies.

“We are feeling proud to be part of this meaningful event which has opened a fresh chapter for Tanzania to further step up efforts to combat illicit financial flows, “he said.

During the event, the participants highlighted over the key issues on illicit financial flows in Africa and Tax Justice and how it affects domestic revenues for service delivery, whereby diverse topics were also presented including ‘The Role Parliamentarians in Scaling Up Tax Justice’.

Also, the presentations highlighted over the key areas in which the involved MPs have to focus their interventions, including investigations and enquiries, advocating and public awareness as well as strengthening international cooperation.

According to the Economic Development in Africa Report 2020 by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Africa loses about US$88.6 billion, 3.7 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP), annually in illicit financial flows.

Moreover, the High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda (FACTI Panel) report released in February 2021 cautions that IFFs — from trade misinvoicing, tax abuse, cross-border corruption, and transnational financial crime — drain resources from sustainable development, as well as worsen inequalities, fuel instability, undermine governance, and damage public trust.

And the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in its Strategic Vision for Africa 2030 launched in February 2021, notes that illicit financial flows remain a key impediment to Africa’s attainment of the 2030 Agenda and the African Union Agenda 2063.

Among other, the main aim of APNIFFT is to provide a platform for African legislators to undertake sustained advocacy- related dialogue and debate in a simplified manner on Illicit Financial Flows, tax governance and domestic resource mobilisation on the African continent which is informed by research and is inclusive of a wide variety of voices, with links to national and regional processes.