11th ATAF COUNTRY CORRESPONDENTS CONFERENCE

“ATAF In the New Decade”

OUTCOME STATEMENT

17-18 February 2022

1. The 11th Country Correspondents Conference was jointly hosted by the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) and the Office Togolais des Recettes (OTR). Held virtually over two days, the conference’s objectives consisted of unpacking the “ATAF in the New Decade” programme and defining the role of Country Correspondents in the programme’s implementation. The meeting was attended by 112 participants, comprising ATAF Country Correspondents, officials involved in capacity building and legal experts from ATAF member tax administrations.
2. At the end of two days of intense work, the 11th ATAF Country Correspondents Conference succeeded in achieving its desired outcomes.
3. We as Country Correspondents note the progress made in implementing the General Assembly’s resolutions to review the ATAF instruments through the Governing Instruments Review Project, the New Decade action plan and its implications for Members and the organisation as a whole. We have also taken note of our roles and responsibilities in this regard.
4. The Secretariat has made significant progress over the past decade. We congratulate the organisation for pursuing the consultative process and we look forward to the engagement with the respective revenue authorities’ legal experts at the Legal Experts workshop to be held on the 28^th of February 2022. We further eagerly await the adoption of a flexible and future-proof agreement that encompasses ATAF’s value proposition while safeguarding the principles of good governance.
5. We are proud to be associated with the name “ATAF” and to echo its name in our fora. “ATAF” is a brand on its own, one that should be both maintained and promoted. 
6. We strongly welcome the initiative to increase ATAF’s regional presence, which we believe is critical to gaining a deeper understanding of member needs, decentralising service delivery, building closer ties with members and offering more closely tailored capacity building initiatives.
7. We take note of our duty as Country Correspondents, conscious of the fact that we are central to the delivery of the organisation’s mission; that we are ATAF’s ambassadors. We reaffirm our commitment to improve the collaboration between the Secretariat and our tax administrations and will make every effort to support ATAF in achieving its vision.
8. In addition, we note both the efforts undertaken by ATAF and their impact on the negotiations to redefine international tax standards. We commit to continue working with the Secretariat so that countries can better benefit from the outcome of this process.
9. We thank the ATAF Secretariat, its members and partners for two days of fruitful work as well as for their dedication to the domestic resource mobilisation cause in Africa.

Lomé, 18 February 2022

View the statement in French and Portuguese.