05/03/2024 – As part of the Fiscal Transition Support Programme (FTSP) in West Africa, the OECD is organising a transfer pricing capacity building workshop from 5 to 7 March 2024 in Accra, Ghana, attended by representatives from 13 West African countries’ tax administrations, and from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) Commissions.

 

 

Against a background of economic globalisation and increased tax competition, with intra-group trade accounting for a significant proportion of world trade, transfer pricing has become a major issue for tax authorities, who see it as a risk area for government tax revenues. Transfer pricing audit is therefore of vital importance to tax authorities, to ensure that multinational enterprises pay their fair share of taxes in the countries where they operate, in the interests of greater tax equity and fair competition.

 

This transfer pricing workshop in Accra is the fifth in a four-year capacity building cycle that has created a network of some thirty West African transfer pricing experts. It follows on from the capacity building workshops held in Dakar and Lomé in 2023, and deals with the approaches that developing countries can consider adopting to prevent tax disputes between states, thereby strengthening legal certainty for businesses and improving the investment climate.

 

At the workshop's opening ceremony, M. Dominic Naab, Assistant to the Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), welcomed the opportunity to host this regional workshop, underlining its impact on the FTSP's efforts to strengthen transfer pricing audits in the wake of the adoption of ECOWAS Directive C/DIR.6/07/23 on the harmonization of transfer pricing rules within ECOWAS member states. Ms. Samia Abdelghani, Senior Tax Advisor at the OECD, emphasised the importance of the regional approach "which fosters a sustainable strengthening of tax competencies in West Africa in support of domestic resource mobilisation, while providing a forum for discussion and exchange between West African tax administrations". Lastly, M. Timothy Dolan, representative of the European Union Delegation to Ghana, stressed that "this workshop and the broader FSTP reflect our shared commitment to strengthening tax transparency and integrity across West Africa. By combating tax evasion and illicit financial flows, we can ensure a sustainable increase in tax revenue for the region to better address socio-economic needs and may other challenges”.

 

The objective of the FTSP, which is funded with 10 million euros from the European Union, is to implement fiscal transition programmes in West Africa following the implementation of regional trade liberalisation policies. Under this programme, the OECD and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes are providing assistance to the 16 West African states and the ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions to enable them to better fight tax base erosion, profit shifting, and illicit financial flows with a view to mobilising domestic resources and improving tax transparency.

 

More information on the OECD's work on building capacity in developing countries to implement international tax standards is available online: www.oecd.org/tax/tax-global/

 

For more information on the workshop, please contact Ben Dickinson, Head of the Global Relations and Development Division in the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (+33 1 45 24 15 29), or ctp.communications@oecd.org.