Ugandan MPs led by Maracha County MP, Hon. Oguzu Lee Denis have launched Ugandan Chapter of the African Parliamentary Network on Illicit Financial Flows and Tax Justice ( APNIFFT) as a platform to mobilize fellow MPs, exchange information and build capacities to tackle the challenge of IFFs and perennially inadequate domestic resources. Oguzu in his opening remarks noted that Uganda's Tax to GDP ratio continues to be below Africa's average of 17% at paltry 14% and the ever narrowing fiscal space continues to pile pressure on government to borrow yet the problem could be solved by curbing illicit financial flows that have continued to undermine domestic resource mobilization efforts. According to SEATINI, $10 per person is lost in Uganda to IFFs annually. These largely take the form of commercial activities (65%), crime 30% and corruption 5%. The chapter formation is a culmination of efforts by African Union High Level Panel on IFFs.
Illicit financial flows out of Africa have become a matter of major concern because of the scale and negative impact of such flows on Africa’s development and governance agenda. Some estimates put illicit flows from Africa at US $80 billion per annum. This is approximately double the official development assistance (ODA) that Africa receives and, indeed, the estimate may well be short of reality as accurate data does not exist for all transactions and for all African countries.
Given the magnitude of the problem and importance of the fight against IFFs, the speaker committed to support Uganda Parliamentary Network on Illicit Financial Flows and Tax Justice (UPNIFFT) and efforts to curb IFFs in Uganda.
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