By NLM Writer
Africa must digitise its economies, broaden its tax base, prevent further deterioration of fiscal and debt positions, and aim for double-digit growth to achieve the UN 2030 global goals (SDGs), as well as the AU Agenda 2063, according to the 2019 Economic Report on Africa released today at the Conference of Ministers.
This year’s Economic Report on Africa, a publication of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) focuses on fiscal policy. Government revenues account for 21.4 percent, insufficient to meet countries’ development financing needs.
Says Vera Songwe, the ECA’s Executive Secretary: “The Report identifies several quick wins in Africa’s pursuit of additional fiscal space to finance its accelerated development… “It also focuses on the instrumental role of fiscal policy in crowding-in investment and creating adequate fiscal space for social policy, including supporting women and youth-led small and medium enterprises.”
But, a decade away from the SDG, she notes that “African countries continue to search for policy mixes to help accelerate the achievement of the SDGs. However, for many countries, financing remains the biggest bottleneck with implementing capacity a close second.”
While analysing and highlighting both challenges and opportunities, the Report also recommends comprehensive macroeconomic reforms aimed at building financial resilience, placing emphasis on the need for Africa to accelerate growth to double digits by 2030 and to boost investment from its current 25 percent of GDP.
While average economic growth in Africa remained moderate at 3.2 percent in 2018 – due to “solid global growth, a moderate increase in commodity prices and favourable domestic conditions”, the Report emphasises that Africa needs to do more, and work towards achieving a fine balance between raising revenue and incentivizing investments, in order to boost growth.
In some of Africa’s largest economies—South Africa, Angola and Nigeria – the Report reveals, growth trended upwards but remains vulnerable to shifts in commodity prices. East Africa remains the fastest growing, at 6.1 percent in 2017 and 6.2 percent in 2018, while in West Africa, the economy expanded by 3.2 percent in 2018, up from 2.4 percent in 2017. Central, North and Southern Africa’s economies grew at a slower pace in 2018 compared to 2017.
On the issue of Africa’s debt burden, the Report reveals that debt levels remained high as African countries increased their borrowing to ease fiscal pressures most of which have been precipitated by the narrowing of revenue streams that has gone on since the commodity price shocks of 2014.
It further argues that African countries can increase government revenue by 12–20 percent of GDP by adopting a policy framework that strengthen revenue mobilisation, including through digitalising African economies, adding that digitisation could enhance revenue mobilisation by up to 6 percent.Â
“Digital identification can broaden the tax base by making it easier to identify and track taxpayers and helping taxpayers meet their tax obligations. By improving tax assessments and administration, it enhances the government’s capacity to mobilize additional resources,” reads the report. Digital ID systems yield gains in efficiency and convenience that could result in savings to taxpayers and government of up to $50 billion a year by 2020.” (
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