DRC Becomes 44th Member of African Tax Body
The DRC had been the lone wolf holdout among SADC and EAC countries, despite its strategic location, natural resource wealth, political clout and massive economic upside potential.
PRETORIA, South Africa - The Democratic Republic of Congo has officially hopped on the African tax train, becoming the 44th member of the influential African Tax Administration Forum in an accession ceremony on June 7th, writes Winston Mwale.
The move went down during an ATAF workshop on that oh-so-important issue of domestic resource mobilization in Central Africa, backed by the financial muscle of the African Development Bank.
Acting Head of Member Services Emeka Nwankwo, representing ATAF's top brass, called it a "significant milestone" - and those are his words - saying: "This is huge not just for the DRC but for the entire African continent as we keep strengthening our collective push for robust, effective tax administrations."
ATAF has been an accelerating membership train since its 2009 founding.
No less than 19 new countries have jumped aboard, with 4 of those joining just in the last couple years alone.
It's all part of their "New Decade Strategic Vision" to get every single African nation under the ATAF umbrella by the 2030s.
The DRC had been the lone wolf holdout among SADC and EAC countries, despite its strategic location, natural resource wealth, political clout and massive economic upside potential.
But DRC tax chief Barnabé Muakadi Muamba made it official in Pretoria, stating, "June 7, 2024 will forever be remembered in the tax history of the DRC as the day we officially joined hands with other African countries to modernize our tax setups and turbocharge our domestic money-making abilities."
The DRC is the latest, but likely not the last, nation to get on board with ATAF's big continental tax vision as African countries keep tightening their fiscal belts together.