The African–Finnish Partnerships on Taxation and Digital Transformations (AFP-TDT) programme has been launched to foster interoperable digital tax systems across Africa, bringing together the African Union Commission, African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), African Development Bank and Finnish partners in a coordinated push to modernise revenue administration.The programme, which builds on the achievements of the first phase of the Africa–Finland partnership, seeks to support stronger, modern and digitally enabled tax administrations across the continent, with cooperation focused on tax administration modernisation, digital transformation and innovation, institutional capacity development, domestic resource mobilisation and peer learning. The Partnership Cooperation Agreement establishing the long-term framework for AFP-TDT through 2029 was signed by ATAF Executive Secretary Mary Baine and HAUS Managing Director Kyösti Väkeväinen.
The AFP-TDT programme brings together ATAF’s continental experience and understanding of African tax administration priorities with Finland’s expertise in public administration, institutional development and digital transformation, with the goal of strengthening domestic resource mobilisation through informed policymaking. The programme will work with pan-African organisations, including the African Union Commission, African Development Bank, ATAF and ACBF, which can contribute to enhanced policy coherence, domestic resource mobilisation, and strategic alignment with continental frameworks.
Phase II of the programme focuses on leveraging digitalisation to modernise and streamline tax processes, thereby improving compliance and enhancing revenue collection efficiency, with a key focus on fostering partnerships between Finnish and African continental organisations. The programme aims to support African institutions in identifying, analysing and articulating their needs and opportunities for further digitalisation of their internal functions and external collaboration, and in crafting investment-ready proposals attractive to development banks, donors, and private investors.
The launch of the programme reflects Finland’s commitment to partnering with African champions of fiscal self-reliance through modern, digital tax administrations that are interoperable with companies through e-invoicing and with other financial oversight and asset recovery institutions to curb profit shifting, transfer pricing, tax evasion, money laundering and other illicit financial flows. By enhancing user friendliness, transparency and trust in tax systems, the programme seeks to foster a more responsive and accountable fiscal environment, and gradually growing strategic fiscal autonomy based on strong social contracts within African societies.
The programme will mobilise technical assistance and secondments from Finland to strengthen African local capacity and support peer-to-peer learning between African officials and professionals in areas such as AI, data analytics, ICT management, and digital services delivery. Countries such as South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda and Ghana have already made significant strides in implementing electronic tax systems, enabling functionalities such as online tax filing, digital payment processing, and automated taxpayer services.
The first phase of the AFP-TCA programme (2023–2025), funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland with a budget of €2.85 million, played an important role in facilitating joint situation analysis and cooperation on the digital transformation of revenue administrations among a consortium of pan-African organisations. The programme’s three outcomes included enhanced understanding of best practices in taxation policy, increased knowledge on taxation in the African context through improved research capacities, and increased organisational capacity at ACBF for capacity building in tax-related issues.
The next phase will focus on translating capacity-building gains into investment-ready initiatives that advance taxation capacity strengthening through digitalisation across Africa, with ATAF and ACBF serving as strategic anchor institutions for the programme. Finland is also providing core support to ATAF’s Strategic Plan 2025–2030 through a parallel project, reinforcing the long-term nature of the partnership.
Africa Presents is a Pan-African digital magazine and monthly publication covering politics, business, economy, culture, tech, and the stories shaping Africa and its diaspora. Visit africapresents.com and follow @AfricaPresents for daily coverage and monthly themed magazine editions.
Leave a comment