The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Natu El-maamry Mwamba, has advised East African countries to unite and develop robust strategies for enhancing domestic revenue collection to achieve successful implementation of development projects, economic growth, and social services.
Dr. Mwamba made this call while speaking at a meeting convened by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the Spring Meetings in Washington D.C., United States, where stakeholders discussed how East African Community member states can achieve self-reliance by improving and strengthening domestic revenue collection rather than relying heavily on external loans and aid.
He noted that East African countries, like many developing nations globally, are striving to execute their budgets using domestic revenues and investing in development projects without significant reliance on foreign loans.
Despite these efforts, Dr. Mwamba explained that East African countries still face challenges in meeting their targets compared to many Sub-Saharan African nations, with the revenue-to-GDP ratio standing at 13.7% in 2023, compared to the regional average of 16.5% for Sub-Saharan African countries.
Dr. Mwamba highlighted several steps Tanzania is taking to enhance domestic revenue collection, both from taxes and non-tax sources, including creating an enabling environment to attract domestic and foreign capital investment, implementing digital revenue collection systems, and formalizing the informal sector business.
He also emphasized the importance of educating citizens about the benefits of tax compliance for their own development, noting that projects aimed at improving education, healthcare, infrastructure, water, energy, and other essential services cannot be realized without full tax compliance from citizens.
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