Global tax reform can help Africa’s digital transformation, EU–African Union summit told

The EU–African Union summit, held in Brussels on 17–18 February 2022, served to highlight how the global tax reform can drive Africa’s digital transformation forward.

During the summit, the Minister for the Digital Economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Désiré Cashmir Eberande Kolongele, elaborated on the challenge of regulating digital activities in Africa which requires setting clear rules to regulate the access to the internet.

Part of the problem, OECD Director of the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration Pascal Saint-Amans explained, is the ‘wasteful’ tax incentives which ‘result from the pressure of multinational companies that said, “Please give me an exemption, otherwise I will go there”. Most of these incentives are wasteful and because there will be a minimum tax at 15%, African countries will now have the opportunity to put an end to these incentives, and that means significant money.’

The DRC is one of the 136 countries to join the global taxation reform, aimed at ensuring that tech giants and other multinationals pay their fair share. The reform is being led by the OECD.