Monrovia, Liberia, July 9, 2026: The Executive Secretary of the African Tax Administration Forum, Mary Baine, has called on African governments to place domestic revenue mobilization at the center of the continent's development agenda.
She said domestic revenue mobilization should receive the same strategic attention as debt management, trade and monetary stability.
Since 2016, ATAF-supported technical assistance has contributed to more than US$6 billion in additional tax assessments and over US$2.
Baine made the call during the 2026 African Caucus Meeting in Banjul, The Gambia, where African finance ministers, central bank governors and development partners discussed transforming Africa's economies through investment, innovation and inclusion.
According to her, stronger domestic revenue systems would help make debt more sustainable, public finances more resilient and development financing more predictable for African countries.
She urged governments on the continent to strengthen revenue strategies, review costly tax exemptions and incentives, deepen financial inclusion and improve coordination between fiscal and monetary policy.
Baine said effective revenue administrations are critical to translating policy reforms into actual revenue outcomes.
She noted that ATAF continues to support member countries through technical assistance, capacity development, peer learning, legislative reform, compliance improvement, transfer pricing, exchange of information, digital transformation and institutional modernization.
On tax transparency, Baine stressed the need to strengthen Africa's capacity to combat illicit financial flows and profit shifting.
She cited ATAF's partnership with the Zambia Revenue Authority and the World Bank Group to develop an African Automatic Exchange of Information, or AEOI, IT solution designed by Africans for African tax administrations.
The platform is intended to provide a secure and affordable way for African tax administrations to implement international tax transparency standards.
Baine also called for continued investment in regional tax organizations that develop African-led solutions to shared challenges.
Since 2016, ATAF-supported technical assistance has contributed to more than US$6 billion in additional tax assessments and over US$2.8 billion in revenue collections by member countries.
In 2025 alone, ATAF-supported interventions generated US$907.8 million in additional tax assessments, of which US$685.8 million was collected.
Looking ahead, she pointed to Revenue Action for Development in Africa, or RADA, ATAF's initiative to double the impact of its supported interventions by 2030.
She said RADA was endorsed at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and urged African countries to engage strategically in ongoing negotiations on the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation.
Baine warned that decisions being taken now would shape taxing rights over services and the digital economy for generations.