COURSE DESCRIPTION
Most African countries achieved independence well over fifty years ago, yet the global financial and tax systems are rigged against their interests. This has severely affected the sovereignty of African nations by undermining domestic revenue mobilization in Africa that is required for public spending and investment, forcing many governments to borrow and rely on overseas development assistance. Revelations, like the Panama Papers, Paradise Papers and Luanda Leaks, show the role many former imperial powers and their dependencies play in enabling illicit financial flows from the continent. These flows out of the continent and associated revenue losses dwarf finance that flows inward in the form of overseas development assistance, remittances and loans. This module tackles the problem of financial secrecy as assessed biennially through the Tax Justice Network’s Financial Secrecy Index, exploring which countries are the worst offenders and what is and can be done to address the problem.
DESIRED CLASS PROFILE:
The class is suitable for policy makers, civil society, parliamentarians and journalists.
OBJECTIVES OF THE SESSION:
- To introduce the problem of financial secrecy as key constraint to Africa’s socio-economic development and the ability of countries to tackle inequality
- To set out how financial secrecy can be measured and which countries are most complicit.
- To present action African governments can and are already taking to address financial secrecy.
Course Features
- Lectures 1
- Quizzes 0
- Duration 60 hours
- Skill level All levels
- Language English
- Students 33
- Certificate No
- Assessments Yes