The 21st century will be Africa’s century of economic development. Incomes will be
rising rapidly and Africa will become one of the main engines of economic progress in
the world. For this to happen, markets must be liberalized and barriers to trade
eliminated. Without hindrance, businesses should be able to source anywhere,
manufacture anywhere, and sell anywhere. Free trade and free competition are
essential if standards of living are to rise. Countries should realize that what is good for
their neighbours is good for them too. For free trade and free competition to come
about, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the African Economic Community
(AEC) should ensure that tax systems do not discriminate against goods and services,
persons and capital from other African countries. Import duties are the most obvious
example of tax discrimination against out-of-state products, but other indirect taxes,
such as VATs and Excise duties can also be used as trade barriers. Similarly, corporation
taxes can distort the location and structure of production through their impact on the
cost of capital. Against this background, this paper discussed the experience of tax
coordination among RECs, involving the abolition of ‘bad’ taxes, such as import duties
and non-tariff barriers, and the alignment of ‘good’ taxes, such as VATs and Excise
duties, which will have to take over the revenue role of the taxes that hinder intra- and
inter-regional trade.
Adepegba, O. (2018). Regional Economic Groups_ Lessons on Tax Coordination for ECOWAS & AU. Afribary. Retrieved from https://afribary.com/works/regional-economic-groups-lessons-on-tax-coordination-for-ecowas-au
Adepegba, Olusola "Regional Economic Groups_ Lessons on Tax Coordination for ECOWAS & AU" Afribary. Afribary, 28 Mar. 2018, https://afribary.com/works/regional-economic-groups-lessons-on-tax-coordination-for-ecowas-au. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Adepegba, Olusola . "Regional Economic Groups_ Lessons on Tax Coordination for ECOWAS & AU". Afribary, Afribary, 28 Mar. 2018. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. < https://afribary.com/works/regional-economic-groups-lessons-on-tax-coordination-for-ecowas-au >.
Adepegba, Olusola . "Regional Economic Groups_ Lessons on Tax Coordination for ECOWAS & AU" Afribary (2018). Accessed November 22, 2024. https://afribary.com/works/regional-economic-groups-lessons-on-tax-coordination-for-ecowas-au