Financial Transparency Coalition

With the BRICS Summit scheduled for 8-9 July, a few days before the Financing for Development (FfD) Conference in Addis Ababa, BRICS countries have a unique opportunity this year to strengthen their cooperation and relevance as a group by committing to working collectively towards an ambitious FfD outcome.

There’s a bustle of traffic, horns are honking and cranes erecting new buildings dot Nairobi’s growing skyline. On the surface, the Kenyan capital seems to embody the narrative of “Africa Rising”. But on the ground, here and elsewhere around the continent, there is a growing phenomenon that is setting back growth and economic development: illicit

Despite earning millions from economic activity in Malawi, one of the world’s poorest countries, a single Australian mining company managed to legally avoid paying taxes to the tune of US$43 million over a six year period. That’s enough for almost 500,000 HIV/AIDS treatments.

Since the OECD approved a decent country-by-country reporting standard, the lobbying to undermine it in practice has really kicked on. Here’s an update on some of the politics of country-by-country, including the manoeuvring in OECD, US, EU and UN processes; and on what may follow…