Taxing Africans To Build Africa

It is well known that many African countries rely on external sources of funding for development projects. Such reliance, however, puts the economic development of the continent largely out of the control of its people. In order to build a strong internal base of funding, it is being suggested that African countries should develop and strengthen their systems of taxation. Because taxes are a dangerous political issue, many governments would like to be seen as cutting taxes. However, people cannot be expected to claim ownership of the development process if they do not foot the bill. Although it may be unpopular, Africans must come to see that there can be no development without taxes. Governments must see to it that people are enabled to make money so that they can pay taxes that would in turn be used for economic development. In fact, people are prevented from effectively participating in the economic and political processes of their countries if they do not pay taxes. Worse, it increases dependency on foreign sources of funding for the survival of many countries. The fact that far too many people do not pay taxes in most African countries shows the inefficiency, rather than the magnanimity, of governments. It shows the tendency of governments to remove their people from the political process: since the people do not pay taxes they have no right to demand that government provide any public good.