In a world remade by force, Africa must bet on UN tax rules
By Léonce Ndikumana. For Africa, United Nations negotiations on a Convention on International Tax Cooperation, resuming in New York on 3 August, matter far beyond technical fiscal concerns. The continent entered this year’s perfect storm of great power rivalry, war and fragmentation, bleeding from a deeper wound: fifty years of capital flight and illicit outflows. […]
In a world remade by force, Africa must bet on UN tax rules
By Léonce Ndikumana.
For Africa, United Nations negotiations on a Convention on International Tax Cooperation, resuming in New York on 3 August, matter far beyond technical fiscal concerns. The continent entered this year’s perfect storm of great power rivalry, war and fragmentation, bleeding from a deeper wound: fifty years of capital flight and illicit outflows.
The war against Iran has kept the Strait of Hormuz — the artery for a large part of theworld’s gas, oil and fertilizers- virtually closed since February. Capital flight feeds on exactly what this war fabricates: uncertainty, soaring debt costs, tax evasion and avoidance, and distracted enforcement. Conflicts grind on also in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. And as the United States turned brutally mercantilist, slashing aid, UNCTAD reports that the collapse in daily ship transits through Hormuz will reduce global trade growth from 4.7% in 2025 to just 1.5% this year.
