By Ndubuisi Francis
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala affirmed, at the weekend that Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation can play a pivotal role in helping developing countries check illicit flows and improve tax collection.
Okonjo-Iweala, who is also Nigeria’s Minister of Finance stated this in Abuja at a two-day event organised by the Global Partnership for Effective Co-operation, of which she is Co-chair. The forum provided an avenue to finalise the agenda and details for its first high level meeting set for between April 15 and 16 in Mexico City.
“This is what my continent is so keen about. The Global Partnership has a key role to play in helping developing countries, especially African countries, boost domestic resources and collect more taxes to fund their own development.
“Through work on improving our tax administration in Nigeria, we’re collecting five times more now than we were 10 years ago. But there is so much more potential here,” she added.
The entire African continent is said to lose around $50 billion a year through tax evasion, undeclared business and corruption according to the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa that is led by former South-African, President Thabo Mbeki.
“Resources flow out of Africa but they end up somewhere”, Mbeki said recently at a high level panel briefing in Paris.
Boosting domestic resource mobilisation and cutting illicit flows will be a key topic at the Mexico meeting, which will be hosted by the Mexican President. The event will bring together over a thousand participants, includingHeads of State and Government and development leaders from business, civil society organisations, private foundations and other key representatives.
Delegates will also tackle global progress in implementing commitments on effective development co-operation, development co-operation in middle-income countries, the role of business in development, co-operation with and by other Southern countries and knowledge exchange for development results.
“The Mexico meeting also marks a major opportunity for global development leaders to show how the Global Partnership provides a key forum to support the implementation of new global development goals post-2015”,said Okonjo-Iweala.
The Millennium Development Goals, the global anti-poverty targets agreed in 2000, expire in 2015. The world is undergoing debates and negotiations on a framework to replace them to 2030.
The Global Partnership helps nations, businesses and organizations work better together to end poverty.
It brings governments, private companies, civil society and others together to ensure funding, time and knowledge produce maximum impact for development.
The Global Partnership is led by three high profile Co-Chairs, including Okonjo-Iweala; Armida Alisjahbana, Minister for National Development Planning, Indonesia; and Justine Greening, Secretary of State for International Development, United Kingdom.
The Global Partnership can help drive progress and support the implementation of the global development agenda that will follow the Millennium Development Goals target year of 2015.
It provides a forum for advice, shared accountability and shared learning and experiences to support the implementation of principles that form the foundation of effective development co-operation.
