This blog was originally shared via IGF

Now, more than ever, Africa is under enormous pressure to strengthen its public finances: poverty levels have risen, and the inequality gap has widened due to COVID-19. Statistics from the African Development Bank (AFDB) paint a dismal picture: 28–40 million Africans are expected to fall into extreme poverty, and 30 million people may lose their jobs. Most African countries find themselves with insufficient resources to procure COVID-19 vaccines and to invest in socio-economic shock absorbers for pandemics and climate change disasters.

Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), under the ambit of the Stop The…

By Mandla Hadebe, Acting Director, Economic Justice Network Africa and Mukasiri Sibanda, Tax & Natural Resource Governance Advisor, Tax Justice Network Africa

Over the past few weeks, a coalition of institutions including the Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) and the Economic Justice Network Africa (EJNA) have been working to organise this year’s Alternative Minig Indaba. Both TJNA and EJNA have invested in contributing into the platform given the role that it plays in bringing together stakeholders from Africa and across the world to discuss an issue that has continuously ravaged the country resulting in continued high levels of poverty and…

by Mukasiri Sibanda, Advisor Natural Resource Governance, Tax Justice Network Africa.

2020 has been like no other year as COVID-19 nearly brought the world to a halt. What started as a health disaster, spilled into a socio-economic crisis resulting in a massive reversal of the agenda to eliminate poverty and inequality in Africa. Civil society organizations (CSOs) were not spared. Long weighed down by shrinking civic space, the lockdown measures introduced to contain COVID-19 left CSOs starring into an abyss. The traditional way of advocacy was turned upside down and embracing the digital space became the new norm. …

by Mukasiri Sibanda, Advisor Natural Resource Governance, Tax Justice Network Africa. Originally shared on TJNA website

2020 has been like no other year as COVID-19 nearly brought the world to a halt. What started as a health disaster, spilled into a socio-economic crisis resulting in a massive reversal of the agenda to eliminate poverty and inequality in Africa. Civil society organizations (CSOs) were not spared. Long weighed down by shrinking civic space, the lockdown measures introduced to contain COVID-19 left CSOs starring into an abyss. The traditional way of advocacy was turned upside down and embracing the digital space became…

By Veronica Zano, Regional Governance, Research and Policy Officer, SARW and Mukasiri Sibanda, Advisor on Tax and Natural Resource Governance, TJNA

The drama of the U.S election, previously lauded as the beacon of democracy, has grabbed the world’s attention as the incumbent, President Trump, has refused to accept defeat. In electoral processes, every vote must be counted to avoid backsliding on democracy. In the same way, to avoid backsliding into poverty and inequality, Africa must account for every dollar earned from her resource wealth. If revenues for Africa’s mineral wealth were well accounted for, Africa would have a fair escape…

A case for public participation during budget formulation

As a concerned citizen, and a socio-economic justice activist, I am severely disturbed by how the pandemic, COVID-19, is piling more pressure on progressive realisation of socio-economic rights. Prior to COVID-19, developing countries like Zimbabwe were struggling to provide access to quality, reliable and affordable essential services like education, health, water, food and shelter are part of the basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Openly, the Constitution acknowledges that the provision of essential services to the public is subject to the limitation of resources available.

Obviously, how government intends to mobilise and…

Elevated significance of the budget consultations

COVID-19 pandemic is putting enormous pressure on human rights, and the huge strain is being felt on both socio-economic rights and civil and political rights. The widespread impact on socio-economic rights is not debatable, more so for developing countries. As economic opportunities shrink, government revenue streams are thinning against heightened COVID-19 induced pressure to modernize essential services — health and education. UNICEF, has launched the What If campaign #ForEveryChild, using COVID-19 as an opportunity to finally bridge the digital divide in the education sector. More than ever, citizen and human rights activists must therefore…

Roughly a year ago, government announced a plan to grow mining sector annual earnings to US$12 billion by 2023, a 344% spike from US$2.7 billion earned in 2017. Gold, platinum and diamonds are earmarked to fuel this growth, contributing respectively US$4 billion, US$3 billion and US$1 billion to the US$12 billion target. If well harnessed, the US$12 billion target for mining earnings can be a propeller for socio-economic development post COVID-19. Evidently, COVID-19 overstretched poor public service delivery, increasing poverty levels and inequalities. For instance, the rich could afford e-learning while the poor where quarantined from access to education. …