Nairobi, Kenya,21 November 2025 (ECA) - The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in collaboration with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), convened a national workshop to strengthen Kenya’s capacity to curb profit shifting by multinational enterprises and enhance domestic resource mobilization. The two-day workshop is part of ECA’s ongoing study on tax leakages in Kenya and Uganda, which examines how profit shifting occurs, estimates tax losses, and proposes targeted policy reforms.
Opening the workshop, ECA representatives stressed that illicit financial flows, unproductive tax incentives and aggressive profit-shifting practices continue to erode Africa’s fiscal space and undermine progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. “Curbing profit shifting is not simply a technical exercise; it is central to mobilizing the resources needed to finance Africa’s development,” noted Douglas Kigabo of ECA, underscoring the importance of evidence-based policy solutions.
Participants received hands-on training on ECA’s methodology for estimating tax losses, including the use of country-by-country reporting data and corporate tax returns. The practical sessions strengthened officials’ analytical capacity in audit selection, risk assessment and policy design. KRA teams described the training as “highly relevant and immediately applicable” to their ongoing tax administration work.
The workshop produced several concrete outcomes: strengthened technical capacity; renewed momentum for tax policy and administrative reforms; plans to present findings at the upcoming East African Community meeting to support regional peer learning; and KRA’s commitment to develop an implementation matrix to guide follow-through on key recommendations.
ECA emphasized that lessons from the Kenya and Uganda studies will inform broader continental efforts to reduce illicit financial flows and improve domestic resource mobilization. As highlighted throughout the workshop, addressing profit shifting is essential to building resilient public finances and advancing Africa’s long-term development agenda.
The workshop’s results mark an important step toward equipping tax authorities with the tools and evidence needed to safeguard national revenues and promote fair and transparent taxation across borders.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org