The IMF is hosting a high-level panel discussion on Friday, November 5 at 8AM ET/ 12 noon GMT moderated by Deputy Managing Director Antoinette M. Sayeh on Tax Avoidance in Sub Saharan Africa’s Mining Sector. The panel discussion will feature the Hon. Ipumbu Shiimi, Minister of Finance of Namibia, the Hon. Lassané Kaboré, Minister of Economy, Finance and Development of Burkina Faso, Mr Tom Butler, formerly CEO of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), and Professor Léonce Ndikumana, Commission Member of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Taxation (ICRICT).

The panel will engage in a lively discussion on the importance of mining in Sub-Saharan Africa, the role of multinational enterprises (MNEs), and how mining needs to contribute to financing public spending and economic recovery. The panel will also examine new evidence from an IMF departmental paper on the extent of international profit shifting and tax avoidance by mining MNEs, the impact of tax competition to attract mining investments into Sub-Saharan Africa, and the policy responses that would best fit the region to respond to these challenges.

Africa is home to much of the world’s mineral resources, which are mostly exploited by multinationals. Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa need to attract foreign direct investment, but they also need to capture a fair share of the value of those mineral resources to support revenue collection and fund development goals. 

But there is growing concern that aggressive tax planning by multinationals results in the erosion of the tax base and lower tax revenue. This event will focus on mining in sub-Saharan Africa, its contribution to fiscal revenues, and how tax arrangements by multinationals could be undermining countries’ much-needed revenue mobilization efforts.  A recently published IMF paper suggests profit shifting in African mining suggests the loss in tax revenue could be between $470 and $730 million per year. 

This event brings together some key actors who are dealing with the loss of tax revenue due to tax planning and also by a member of civil society intimately familiar with the issues this raises.  

The participants will discuss the findings of the paper, regional experiences with MNE tax planning, and also the strategies that countries can undertake to counter aggressive tax avoidance.

Join our conversation on Friday, November 5, at 8:00 AM ET (12:00 PM UTC). Livestream will be available in English and French.

If you have any questions which you would like addressed by participants at this event, email: IMF-SSA_Tax_Avoidance@imf.org