Antananarivo, Madagascar, 5 November 2019- On the sidelines of the 11th Edition of the African Private Sector Forum, the African Union Commission today launched two flagship economic reports, including the report Africa’s Development Dynamics (AfDD) 2019 produced in collaboration with OECD Development Center on the theme "Achieving Productive Transformation in Africa" and the new report on Domestic Resource Mobilization: Fight against Corruption and Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Africa.The launch event was chaired by H.E. Richard Randriamandranto, Minister of Economy and Finance of Madagascar.

"Africa loses more than $ 50 billion a year in illicit financial flows and Illicit commercial activities account for 65%, criminal activities 30% and corruption 5%. In this report, you will see the losses of the 55 Member States of the AU from 2004 to 2013 as a result of IFFs and Corruption "noted H.E. Prof. Victor Harison, Commissioner for Economic affairs in his introductory remarks. The issue of corruption and IFFs remains a priority of the African Union. Over the years, the AU has taken a number of concrete steps to address this issue. It is in this regard that the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) of the African Union Commission today launched its new publication on the best practices and experiences from African countries and an analysis of the current state of affairs of domestic resource mobilization in Africa. The report proposes several recommendations to Member States including (i) to enhance domestic resource mobilization by improving tax collection and expansion of tax base; dematerialization of revenues systems; and taxation of digital economy; (ii) improve tax transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes; and (iii) enhance their capacity in the negotiation in the extractive sector and (iv) take actions to identify IFFs, recover and return proceeds from IFFs. This will help Africa to mobilise sustainable and predictable resources, reduce its dependence on external resources and achieve Agenda 2063: the Africa We Want.

Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) 2019; the second AUC’s flagship economic report; which is produced in collaboration with the OECD Development Centre also released today, shows that Africa’s expanding domestic markets offer great opportunities for transforming production systems across the continent. The African continent recorded 4.6% annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth between 2000 and 2018; with domestic demand accounting for 69% of this annual growth. The continent’s growth is projected at 3.6% in 2019 and should remain robust at 3.9% between 2020 and 2023.

However, despite Africa’s recent remarkable growth, a number of challenges remain, specifically in the areas of job creation, inequality and basic social services delivery. And yet, African economies have an enormous potential for diversification and productive transformation which will in turn help overcome dependency on importing primary products that will allow to create sufficient production; and provide more job opportunities to absorb the 10 to 12 million young people entering the labor market each year said H.E. Prof. Victor Harison, Commissioner for Economic Affairs of the AUC, while launching the report

African firms are key to the economic transformation of the continent, but they need governments to create better conditions for them to thrive according. Without bold policy changes, most African businesses may not be ready for reaping the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area Africa (AfCFTA) which is projected to offer offers African firms new opportunities of a 1.2 billion strong continental market.

AfDD 2019 puts forward a systemic approach to productive transformation by focusing on three sets of policies:
• Develop effective clusters of firms, by providing them with business services that improve specialisation in niches, linkages between the most productive ones and the others, and address skill shortages.
• Encourage the creation of regional production networks to generate economies of scale between African countries, attract new investors, develop complementarities within the value chains, and avoid a competitiveness race to the bottom.
• Enhance firms’ abilities to thrive in new markets. Policies can provide extra support to exporters by removing non-tariff barriers to the continental trade, simplifying administrative procedures and custom services, and improving connective infrastructure - especially flights, roads and ports.

“The entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area in 2019 marks a strong commitment by African leaders towards productive transformation. But it will work if African firms are strong enough to compete in this continent single market. African firms need bolder and smarter government policies to support them”, stated Mario Pezzini, Director of the OECD Development Centre and Special Advisor to the OECD Secretary-General on Development. “Removing non-tariff barriers reduces uncertainties for exporters and may increase fivefold the gains from tariff removal”, he added.

The report provides detailed analysis and recommendations for each of the five African regions.

To consult Africa's Development Dynamics 2019, go to: https://au.int/afdd2019 and https://oe.cd/afdd2019

The Domestic Resource Mobilization: Fighting against Corruption and Illicit Financial Flows report is available at:
https://au.int/en/documents/20190905/domestic-resource-mobilization-figh...

Follow discussions on the reports on social media: #AfricaDynamics2019; #IFFs

Contact Informations:

Requests for information on the two reports should be directed to:

African Union Commission:

Dr. Yeo Dossina | Department of Economic Affairs | African Union Commission I E-mail: DossinaY@africa-union.org

Ms. Djeinaba Kane | Department of Economic Affairs | African Union Commission I E-mail: KaneD@africa-union.org

Contact- OECD Development Centre for the ADD report:

Bochra Kriout; Email: Bochra.Kriout@oecd.org; Tel: +33 145 24 82 96

Note to Editors:

Africa's Development Dynamics is an economic report produced by the African Union Commission in collaboration with the OECD Development Centre. Introduced in 2018, the report is designed to deepen dialogue and international collaboration on the pan-African agenda of integration and transformation in line with the vision and aspirations of Agenda 2063. Other joint projects between the African Union Commission and the OECD Development Centre include the organisation of the yearly International Economic Forum on Africa and the Revenue Statistics in Africa report.

The report on Illicit Financial Flows entitled Domestic Resource Mobilization: Fighting against Corruption and Illicit Financial Flows provides an analysis of the situation of corruption and illicit financial flows (IFFs) on the continent and presents the best practices of countries and the experiences of international organizations in mobilizing domestic resources and optimizing tax collection, fighting corruption and strengthening tax cooperation.

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Website: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
For further information: Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Website: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
Follow us –Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfricanUnionCommission
Twitter - @_Africanunion @AU_Economy
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/AUCommission