The Kenyan government has signed an agreement with 26 other African states to combat tax evasion and illicit money trafficking on a continental and international level.
According to the Yaundé Convention, signed by some member states of the African Union in November 2017, the countries that adhere engage in a war on illicit financial flows in the continent in order to promote clean and controlled revenues and reduce public debts of the countries.
Treasury Secretary Ukur Yatani recently signed the declaration, making Kenya the 27th country to join the league of African countries that jointly fight tax evasion through the illegal flow of cash across borders.
Yaoundé's statement was in fact enshrined after the tenth plenary meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes - a framework bringing together more than 150 jurisdictions, including transparency of tax information - held in the Cameroonian capital.
"Kenya is also encouraged by Yaoundé's statement and his call for action to combat illicit financial flows in Africa through better international tax cooperation - said Yatani in his communication to the President of the Global Forum Maria-Jose Garde, as reported by the Financial Daily Business - This is a clear message from African ministers on the fight against tax evasion, which we must enunciate at the right level across the continent. Cameroon, Uganda, Liberia and Benin were the first signatories and last year were joined by 19 other nations, including South Africa and Nigeria, respectively the most developed and largest economies on the continent.
Kenya joined Morocco (March), Tunisia (May) and Djibouti (November) as the last signatories this year.
Illegal financial flows (IFFs) are considered one of the continent's major problems: for example, the United Nations estimates that between 1980 and 2009, between $1.2 trillion and $1.4 trillion left Africa, more than half of Africa's gross domestic product (GDP).
The Kenyan government is convinced that many of the 7.3 billion shillings of 1,000 old banknotes that were not returned to the banking system during the period of the recent demonetization exercise that closed on 30 September, are part of the illicit financial flow in the country.