The Federal Government has called for stronger cooperation among West African countries to improve tax collection, boost compliance with ECOWAS tax rules, and raise more domestic revenue across the region.
The call was made by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, during a meeting with a delegation from the West African Tax Administration Forum (WATAF), led by its Executive Secretary, Jules Tapsoba Sulio, at the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja.
According to a statement on Tuesday, signed by Mary-Ann Duke Okon, senior special assistant, communications and press secretary to the minister, Oyedele said stronger regional cooperation was needed to deepen tax administration reforms across West Africa.
The minister praised WATAF for the progress it has made since it was established in 2011 and for helping member countries build stronger tax systems.
He urged the organisation to play a bigger role in ensuring that member states implement regional tax agreements.
Oyedele said WATAF should “take a more active role in monitoring the implementation of regional tax agreements by developing practical benchmarking tools and performance dashboards that assess member states’ compliance with ECOWAS tax directives.”
He said such tools would “promote accountability, encourage peer learning, and help raise tax administration standards across West Africa.”
The minister also asked the forum to expand its benchmarking work by identifying and promoting successful approaches in digital tax systems, taxation of the informal sector and wider tax policy reforms.
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According to him, this would allow member countries to learn from one another and speed up tax reforms across the region.
Speaking during the visit, WATAF Executive Secretary, Jules Tapsoba Sulio, while congratulating Oyedele on his appointment, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to supporting Nigeria and other member countries.
He said WATAF would continue to strengthen tax systems across the region through capacity building, technical assistance, research, digital transformation and regional cooperation.
Sulio also thanked Nigeria for its continued support to the organisation, saying the country’s financial, institutional and technical contributions had played a major role in WATAF’s growth and success.
The meeting also discussed ways to strengthen collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Finance and WATAF in domestic revenue mobilisation, regional tax harmonisation, digital transformation and capacity development across West Africa.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X