West African Tax Administrators Pledge to Effective Digital Tax Administration

The High-Level Policy Dialogue of the West African Tax Administration Forum (WATAF) in Accra ended with participants upholding that effective domestic resource mobilisation is central to fiscal sovereignty and sustainable development.

At the dialogue, tax administrators saw digitalization not as an option, but as the most effective tool for reducing illicit financial flows and closing compliance gaps. The forum therefore recommended strengthening digital tax administration through secure, interoperable data systems; appropriate governance and privacy protections; and legal collaboration with banks, payment service providers, digital regulators, and other relevant data holders.

Discussions on taxpayer trust ran through all forum sessions. Tax administrators were therefore admonished to make tax administration efficient and, most importantly, fair and equitable to sustain compliance. It was noted that taxpayer trust also requires tax systems to be transparent, progressive, and legitimate. Participants emphasized that revenue effectiveness should be evaluated by its contribution to equity, economic growth, better public services, and increased public trust, not just the amount collected.

The forum agreed that although existing West Africa regional frameworks for information sharing, recovery support, and administrative collaboration are significant, inconsistent application restricts these strategies' efficacy. The forum therefore called for practical regional cooperation through organized peer support, collaborative risk analysis, coordinated audits, recovery support, and the safe sharing of tax and customs data. The forum further called on development partners to align their support with member priorities, avoid duplication, and include clear arrangements for institutional ownership, knowledge transfer and sustainability.

In this regard, the ECOWAS Commission reaffirmed its continuous support to member states under its Fiscal Transition Programme, in a bid to diversify their revenue base away from trade taxes towards more sustainable domestic sources, including through work on tax expenditure rationalisation, excise policy reform, and the strengthening of value-added tax and direct tax administration. The Commission added that it is equally advancing regional cooperation on international taxation so that West Africa speaks with one voice and captures its fair share of taxing rights in a rapidly changing global order.

Hosted by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the 23^rd General Assembly and 8^th High-Level Policy Dialogue of WATAF brought together heads and senior officials of tax and customs administrations, government representatives, regional and international institutions, development partners, the private sector, civil society, academia and tax professionals.

This year’s programme comes in time, as the West Africa region is still navigating a challenging convergence of fiscal pressures: the decline in trade-tax revenue, which has historically supported national budgets; growing financing requirements for social protection, infrastructure, and climate adaptation; and an increasingly complex international tax environment shaped by the ongoing negotiations on global tax reform and the digitalization of the economy.

Over the years, WATAF has become the leading gathering place for tax administrators in West Africa to evaluate performance, share experiences, and build peer-to-peer solidarity that turns sound policy into efficient administration.

The programme saw the signing of three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs): between The Gambia and Liberia; between WATAF and the Society of Women in Taxation (SWIT); and between WATAF and the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD). These MoUs seek to provide technical support, research, and knowledge exchange between partners.

Bridge Agenda participated in this programme to explore partnership strategies with WATAF.

By: Elizabeth Alampae Ayamga
Email: [email protected]