Senior officers of the Gambia Revenue Authority GRA, recently returned from Cape Town, South Africa, after successfully participating in the African Tax Administration Secretariat Forum (ATAF) meeting.
The team included the director of finance and accounting, deputy commissioner, large taxpayers, tax manager, headquarters function and policy, planning and research manager while the commissioner general of the Gambia revenue Authority GRA was represented by the director of human resources and administration as head of the delegation.
This year’s ATAF annual meeting 2023 was conducted under the theme ‘Africa Rising Sustainable Growth Through Revenue Mobilisation’.
The meetings delved into the intricate workings of domestic revenue mobilisation and its role as a pillar of economic, independence and sustainable development. The meetings examined how effectively harnessing taxation, natural resources and other indigenous revenue sources can provide more stable and predictable funding for public expenditure, social development, and infrastructure investment.
The main highlights of the four days’ convergence were the ATAF council and development partner’s meetings, and the main conference. Some of the other events included the ATRN Board, and Joint ATAF Technical committee of IFFs meeting, African Tax Outlook Validation workshop, and seminars on ATAF and WBG Pillar Two implementation, ATAF Women in tax Network, Digitalization of Tax Administration, and Interagency cooperation, meeting of the EOI and CBT Technical committees, as well as the African Tax Outlook validation workshop.
The main conference which spanned from 31st October to 2nd November featured 10 Sessions on various thematic areas. The 10th session on the topic, looking ahead, predicting and preparing for future challenges in curbing IFFs featured a panel of eminent experts with vast knowledge and experiences in taxation and the extractive industry. The panel discussion which focused on IFFs in Africa resources-rich sector and discussed how to increase transparency, improve governance and ensure fair taxation in the extractive industries was ably moderated by Mr. Abou Sallah Tax Manager.
