Many African tax authorities have weak capacity to raise revenue. From 1990 to 2020, Sub-Saharan African countries on average collected only about 12 percent-15 percent of GDP as taxes, a much lower share than the 33.5 percent in OECD economies.
For countries that have limited information about taxpayers, constrained resources and informal economies, it can be difficult to collect revenue. What’s more, African tax administrations tend to rely on manual filing and payment of taxes. In-person interactions between taxpayers and tax officials are common, creating opportunities for collusion when paying taxes. African taxpayers also experience higher compliance costs than similar regions when navigating opaque tax systems.
