Our book, Taxing Africa: Coercion, Reform, and Development by Mick Moore, Wilson Prichard, and Odd-Helge Fjeldstad, was recently listed as one of the three best books on Africa in 2019 by Foreign Affairs.
The book offers a fascinating insight into the key issues facing policy makers, tax collectors, civil society activists and donors working to increase revenues to finance sustainable development in Africa. From the colonial roots of taxation on the continent, to current struggles to reduce aid dependence and shape a more just international tax system, Taxing Africa provides a “concise and masterly” overview, focusing on crucial questions of taxation and governance, accountability, and fairness.
While demonstrating the real progress made, the book examines the critical challenges that remain, including tax avoidance by multinational companies, corruption, and the regressive nature of systems where elites often evade taxes while ordinary citizens are burdened by complex webs of ‘informal’ taxation. As a deeply political process, the authors explore the potential for popular engagement to overcome the resistance of vested interests and create locally-owned agendas and strategies for reform.
Learn more about the book or buy it from Zed Press here (paperback or eBook) or the South African edition from Best Red books here.