West Africa must look within to close $100 billion annual financing gap - GRA boss

West African countries must find ways to raise more money from within their own economies if they are to close an annual development financing gap of more than $100 billion, Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Anthony Sarpong, has said.

He stated that countries in the region could no longer depend heavily on borrowing and external support to fund major development projects and public services.

According to him, West Africa’s average tax revenue is about 13.5% of the region’s economic output, compared with 16.1% for Africa as a whole.

He said the figure shows that countries still have significant room to collect more revenue from their economies.

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Speaking at the 8th High-Level Policy Dialogue and 23rd General Assembly of the West Africa Tax Administration Forum (WATAF), Sarpong said stronger tax systems were key to addressing the region’s funding challenges.

“The answer to our development financing question does not lie primarily beyond our borders. It lies within them, in our capacity to mobilise our own domestic resources fairly, efficiently, and sustainably,” he said.

He also mentioned that one way to raise more revenue is to bring more businesses and economic activities into the formal tax system.

He called for better management of revenue from natural resources and greater use of domestic savings to finance long-term development.

He stressed that raising more revenue does not necessarily mean increasing taxes on people and businesses that are already paying.

Instead, he said governments should focus on broadening the tax base and improving compliance.

The GRA boss also called for greater use of technology to make tax collection easier and reduce revenue losses.

He mentioned electronic filing, digital payments, digital invoices, data analysis and artificial intelligence as tools that could help tax authorities identify taxpayers, improve compliance and reduce leakages.

He said West African countries must also work together to tackle tax challenges involving businesses operating across borders.

These include illicit financial flows, transfer pricing, digital businesses and cross-border trade.

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Sarpong said stronger cooperation among tax authorities would be necessary because no country could effectively deal with these challenges alone.

He added that tax systems must remain fair and transparent while supporting businesses, investment and entrepreneurship.

DR/MA

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