Commissioner-General calls for stronger tax cooperation to boost regional revenue mobilisation

Ghana's Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, has called for stronger tax cooperation among African countries to boost revenue mobilisation and support sustainable development. Speaking at the opening of the 8th High-Level Policy Dialogue and 23rd General Assembly of the West African Tax Administration Forum in Accra, Sarpong highlighted the growing public financing needs and debt vulnerabilities faced by governments in the sub-region due to increasing demands for infrastructure, social investment, climate adaptation, and digital transformation.

He emphasized the need for African countries to mobilise domestic resources fairly, efficiently, and sustainably to address their development financing challenges. Sarpong urged tax administrations to broaden the tax base, formalise activities in the informal economy, improve the management of natural resource revenues, and strengthen information exchange among jurisdictions.

He also called for the greater deployment of technology, such as e-filing, e-payment, digital invoicing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence, to improve compliance, detect tax evasion, and broaden the tax base. Sarpong stressed that effective tax systems are central to state capacity and the social contract between citizens and governments, and that fair and trusted tax administration can promote development and enhance business confidence.

He urged tax administrations to build strong institutions anchored in professionalism, meritocracy, integrity, accountability, and transparency, and stressed that stronger collaboration, technological innovation, and robust institutions are critical to improving revenue mobilisation across the region.

Brief written by urgent.news from MyJoyOnline Ghana's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.