Financial Transparency Coalition

Below is a must-see video from Al Jazeera English, reporting on the report by Action Aid UK on tax avoidance by sugar companies in Zambia. The report finds that British Foods Group, a major supplier of sugar in Zambia, made a profit of $123 million since 2007, but paid virtually no taxes. The losses include over $80 million in funds moved to tax havens, and a $47 million 'management fee' from British Food Group's Irish subsidiary. And this is all in addition the billions of illicit dollars leaving Zambia every year.

Alvin Mosiama, director of Tax Justice Network Africa, and a Task Force regional representative, has as much experience as anyone in campaigning on taxes and transparency for developing countries. In a great op-ed for Devex that everyone should read, he outlines how corporations aren't just shifting profits to tax havens, but simultaneously shifting the burden of funding the government to those that can least afford it.

We should have highlighted this back in the fall, but failed to do so. The Association of Concerned African Scholars (ACAS) released a fantastic series of articles titled, "Africa's Capital Losses: What Can Be Done?" The series is edited by Léonce Ndikumana and James Boyce, members of the Task Force's Economist's Advisory Council, and includes articles by Global Financial Integrity and Task Force Director Raymond Baker, as well as Tax Justice Network's John Christensen and Nicholas Shaxson.

Last week, Task Force member Global Financial Integrity hosted a panel discussion to discuss Laurence Cockcroft's new book, Global Corruption: Power, Money, and Ethics in the Modern World. Panelists include Cockcroft, GFI and Task Force Director Raymond Baker, Center for Concern President Les Myers, and Fairfax Group CEO Michael Hershman. Cockcroft is a prominent development economist, and a founding member of Transparency International-UK.