South Africa sets an example on Transparency
Need to Emulate ..... this ..... :-)
Emphasizing Beneficial Ownerships Disclosure as per EITI Standards
A Joint CSOs Press Statement released by the ECONOMIC JUSTICE NETWORK – FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY COALITION – TAX JUSTICE NETWORK – AFRICA
states that it will insist on having Beneficiary Ownership Disclosure Clause as per the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (EITI) Standards Requirements.
This comes just after a month upon the Panama Papers stories hits the newsstands. The South African government has committed itself to tackling the very type of hidden ownership that was central to many offshore structures scrutinized in the months-long investigation.
On the sidelines of the Open Government Partnership Africa Regional Meeting, the South African government announced a National Action Plan (NAP) that includes a commitment to collecting information on the beneficial owners—the person or people ultimately benefitting from or in control—of every company incorporated in the country. Currently, many jurisdictions around the world don’t ask for this information, which is why anonymous companies are a favorite tool of corrupt politicians, tax evaders, and terrorists who wish to conceal their identity.
“This is an encouraging announcement, especially because of the commitment to a public register, rather than a register that’s only accessible to the authorities,” said Denise Dube Mubaiwa of Economic Justice Network of FOCCISA. “Public registers give investigators, journalists, civil society, and the general public the tools necessary to peel back the layers of secrecy that anonymous companies create. The next step is for draft legislation to be revised promptly to reflect the South African government’s commitment today to a public register.”
South Africa’s commitment comes just over a year after African leaders adopted a report from the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, which calls for governments to create publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership to help combat illicit flows. The Panel, chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, estimates that Africa loses at least US$50 billion through IFFs each year, which is roughly 5.5 per cent of the continent’s gross domestic product.
“It’s good to see South Africa commit to beneficial ownership registers, as suggested by the High Level Panel, but it’s vital that they quickly turn this commitment into a binding reality,” said Alvin Mosioma of Tax Justice Network-Africa. “Illicit flows leaving the continent are only growing, and African governments need to take proactive steps to combat them as quickly as possible. South Africa leading the way will provide important cover for other African governments to take the same step.”
With this announcement, South Africa joins a growing number of governments calling for incorporation transparency. The UK launched a public register of beneficial ownership this year, and Ukraine launched the first public register in 2015; more recently, Australia and the Netherlands also announced plans to create a public register.
It seems governments are waking up to their citizens’ demands for more transparency in the global financial system,” said Porter McConnell of the Financial Transparency Coalition. “It’s important that South Africa implements this commitment quickly, and that any register is available to the public, so that journalists, researchers, and civil society can use the data. The Panama Papers demonstrated that citizens around the world are craving the accountability and transparency necessary to restore faith in how the financial system operates.”
Here in Dodoma, Tanzania Activista last week held a workshop at the Parliament on Curbing Illicit Financial Flows, campaigning on Stop Bleeding the nation, Control Tax Evasion and Reduce amounts of Tax Exemptions
Tanzania is among of African country which provides Tax incentives, Tax holidays, but in the other side there's involvement of Illicit Financial Flow (IFF) from Africa to Europe, it's estimated that 60$billions that Africa loose every year in illegal activities especially on money laundering and Tax evasion from the corporate companies. We should be responsible for our Africa
Shainul Bhanji of Global Investors Consultation Centre (GICC-EA) also pointed out that as per the Global Financial Integrity Report recently released, about 6% of GDP from African countries is flowing out of Africa due to corruption and illicit financial flows. Moreover millions of people in Africa are being marginalized and unable to access quality health and education facilities due to Africa's Domestic Revenue being mismanaged.
The Joint South Africa's CSO's Announcement can be viewed hereunder:
To understand on What is Beneficial Ownership Disclosures Clause, Watch this video
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