MONROVIA – West Africa’s tax administrations are entering a phase in which stronger revenue collection must finance development without weakening fairness or public trust. That challenge framed the West African Tax Administration Forum’s Council Meeting in Accra, held as the organization marks 15 years of cooperation. WATAF has trained 5,000 tax officials since 2011, yet member countries still confront digital commerce, compliance gaps and changing international rules. The Accra engagements therefore carry significance far beyond another routine institutional gathering. Tax leaders are being pressed to translate shared experience directly into practical reforms that individual jurisdictions can implement. As THE ANALYST reports, their success would strengthen financing for infrastructure, education, healthcare and social protection while reducing dependence on uncertain external resources.
ACCRA, Ghana — The West African Tax Administration Forum (WATAF) has placed practical tax reforms and stronger domestic revenue mobilization at the center of its weeklong engagements in Accra as the regional organization marks 15 years of institutional cooperation. The gathering has brought together tax administrators seeking coordinated responses to digital transformation, compliance gaps, emerging international tax rules and the growing demand for sustainable development financing.
The engagement began with WATAF’s 23rd Council Meeting ahead of its eighth High-Level Policy Dialogue and 23rd General Assembly. The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is hosting the activities in Accra from September 15–19, 2026.
About 300 delegates were expected to participate in the broader gathering, including commissioners-general and directors-general of national tax administrations. Policymakers, development partners, academics, private-sector representatives and regional and international tax experts were also expected to attend.
The week’s activities are being held under the theme, “Building Stronger Tax Administrations for Revenue Mobilisation and Sustainable Development.” The theme reflects the pressure on West African governments to raise more domestic resources while building fairer, modern and more responsive tax systems.
Council Sets Strategic Direction
Opening the Council Meeting, WATAF Council Chairperson Talato Eliane Djiguemdé-Ouédraogo welcomed members and emphasized the gathering’s importance in providing strategic leadership for stronger and more effective tax administrations across West Africa. Djiguemdé-Ouédraogo is also Director General of the Burkina Faso Revenue Authority.
She maintained that this year’s gathering comes at an important moment for taxation across the region. The 2026 High-Level Policy Dialogue, she noted, is expected to produce substantive discussions on the progress being made and the challenges confronting domestic revenue mobilization.
According to the chairperson, the discussions will examine the obstacles affecting Domestic Revenue Mobilization (DRM) and explore practical approaches for addressing them. Participants will also consider how WATAF can further empower and support tax administrations responding to a rapidly changing tax environment.
WATAF Executive Secretary Jules Tapsoba welcomed Council members and emphasized the significance of the meeting in considering critical governance and institutional matters. Those discussions cover the work of the Secretariat and the implementation of WATAF’s programs.
The Council Meeting serves as a major governance and oversight platform of the regional forum. It brings together the heads of six member tax administrations to provide strategic direction, review program implementation, consider plans and budgets and guide the Secretariat’s work.
The Council also provides an important connection between decisions reached by the General Assembly and their practical implementation. Its work contributes to accountability, regional cooperation and coordinated action aimed at improving tax administration and domestic revenue mobilization throughout West Africa.
Development Financing Drives Dialogue
The discussions come as West African countries seek greater and more sustainable domestic resources to finance infrastructure, education, healthcare, social protection and other development priorities. Governments are also being compelled to adapt their tax systems to digitization, changing business models and an evolving international tax architecture.
WATAF’s eighth High-Level Policy Dialogue will examine domestic revenue mobilization, digital transformation, taxpayer compliance and environmental fiscal policy. Innovation, regional cooperation, partnerships, inclusive tax systems and emerging international tax reforms are also included on the agenda.
A major focus of the dialogue will be moving beyond repeatedly identifying problems and toward developing practical and actionable approaches. The intention is to produce options that national tax administrations can adapt and implement within their respective jurisdictions.
The regional discussions come amid increasing pressure on governments to mobilize revenue without placing unfair burdens on compliant taxpayers or economically vulnerable populations. Building confidence in tax systems will require transparent administration, improved services, consistent enforcement and clearer links between public revenue and national development.
Modern tax administrations must also respond to economic activity that increasingly crosses national and digital boundaries. Regional cooperation gives WATAF members an opportunity to share information, technical knowledge and approaches to problems that individual countries may find difficult to address independently.
Fifteen Years of Capacity Building
The Accra gathering coincides with WATAF’s 15th anniversary. The milestone provides an opportunity to assess the Forum’s contribution to tax administration and regional cooperation since its establishment in 2011 and to chart priorities for the years ahead.
WATAF has continued to invest significantly in institutional and human capacity throughout the region. During its 15-year journey, the Forum has trained more than 5,000 tax officials, commissioners-general, directors-general and senior tax executives.
Between 2024 and mid-2026 alone, WATAF delivered 26 regional training programs reaching more than 2,365 tax officials. Those activities were conducted alongside extensive knowledge-sharing and peer-learning initiatives involving member administrations.
The training record reflects WATAF’s effort to develop tax institutions capable of responding to increasingly complex economic and technological conditions. The broader test, however, will be how effectively those skills are translated into stronger national systems, better taxpayer services and increased domestic revenue.
The anniversary also provides member administrations with an opportunity to determine which regional initiatives have produced results and which require adjustment. Those assessments are expected to influence the Forum’s institutional direction and future capacity-building priorities.
Council Membership Confirmed
Djiguemdé-Ouédraogo chairs the WATAF Council in her capacity as Director General of the Burkina Faso Revenue Authority. Uffé Vieira Gomes Da Silva, Director General of the Guinea-Bissau Revenue Authority, serves as vice chairperson.
Federal Inland Revenue Service of Nigeria Executive Chairman Dr. Zacch Adedeji and Guinea Revenue Authority Director General Fatoumata Foula Diallo serve as Council members. Gambia Revenue Authority Commissioner General Yankuba Darboe and Senegal Revenue Authority Director General Jean Koné are also members of the Council.
Tapsoba serves as secretary to the Council alongside his responsibilities as WATAF executive secretary. Together, the members provide governance oversight and strategic direction for the regional organization.
Their deliberations will feed into the wider engagements as member administrations and partners consider measures to deepen regional cooperation. The Council’s recommendations will also help guide discussions during the High-Level Policy Dialogue and General Assembly.
Modern Tax Systems Sought
WATAF’s Accra meetings are expected to assess how national administrations can become more resilient, efficient and responsive to economic change. Participants will examine the institutional, technological and human-capacity requirements for building tax systems capable of financing West Africa’s development ambitions.
The discussions will also consider how regional institutions can support national tax authorities without ignoring the different legal, economic and administrative conditions within member countries. Practical reforms must be adaptable if they are to produce meaningful results across the region.
For WATAF, the challenge after 15 years is to ensure that accumulated training, institutional experience and regional cooperation produce measurable improvements in tax administration. The Accra engagements are intended to move that work from shared diagnosis toward coordinated implementation.
The Council’s deliberations will therefore shape more than WATAF’s internal governance. They will influence the regional effort to build modern tax administrations capable of mobilizing sustainable revenue, responding to international reforms and supporting development priorities across West Africa.