Sign the tax deal, ATAF official tells Southern African parliaments

Swakopmund, Namibia – The African Tax Administration Forum’s Vice Chairperson and Commissioner of the Namibia Revenue Agency, Sam Shivute, has called on Southern African parliamentarians to push their governments to sign up for a regional tax cooperation agreement that he says only six African countries have so far joined.

Shivute made the call on Thursday while addressing the Southern Africa Development Community Organisation of Public Accounts Committees, known as SADCOPAC, in Swakopmund, Namibia, ahead of ATAF publishing the remarks last Friday, 22 May 2026.

He pointed to the ATAF Agreement for Mutual Assistance on Tax Matters as a model framework for the continent, one that he said gives member countries the tools to track cross-border money movements and coordinate between tax authorities and parliaments to ensure the right laws are in place.

Speaking directly to the parliamentarians in the room, Shivute was candid about the low uptake of the agreement.

“ATAF came up with an agreement on mutual assistance on tax matters. And in ATAF, most all of your our country are members of ATAF, they pay membership fee. ATAF does provide capacity at no cost, including in transfer pricing. And up to today, the only country here that have signed up on that agreement mutual agreement on mutual assistance on tax matter. You have such South Africa. Maybe we can give a kind of applause from South Africa. And remember South Africa’s tax administration is one of the best in this continent. There’s no doubt about that they they collecting trillion. Then you have Uganda. Maybe that’s why Uganda’s economy is growing at 8.5. Then you have other four which are not here. From Namibia we will push only six countries,” he said.

He pressed the parliamentarians to explain why a tool designed to help governments track financial flows and coordinate tax enforcement was being left on the shelf.

“But why why do we have a tool that can help us to know who is moving what and so on and we are not ensuring that it’s a coordination between tax authority and parliament to make sure that those laws are passed,” he said.