17 June 2010: The “African Economic Outlook 2010,” a joint publication of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Centre, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), has been released.

The report indicates that Africa’s economies have been weakened by the global recession while being under pressure to make additional efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The 2010 report explores how public resources can be better mobilized for development through more effective, efficient and fairer taxation. It also includes an analysis of practices that erode the existing tax base, such as the excessive granting of tax preferences, insufficient taxation of extractive industries and an inability to fight abuses of transfer pricing by multinational enterprises. In relation to climate change, the report highlights that meeting the cost of climate change adaptation and mitigation requires substantial financial resources that are beyond Africa’s financial ability. [The Report]