Africa: Billions lost to state coffers due to tax leniency

Bad governance and the persistence of the tax avoidance industry allow billions of dollars of profit to be siphoned out of Africa, untaxed, every year. For the past 25 years, tax revenues in most African countries have missed even the low target of 15 per cent of gross domestic product, far less than rich countries’ average of 35 per cent, according to a recent report of the Tax Justice Network’s Africa section.