ECA Boosts Mauritanian Officials’ Understanding of International Tax Treaties

Nouakchott, 2 September 2024 (ECA) -The UN Economic Commission for Africa's Office for North Africa is organizing, in collaboration with the Mauritanian Ministry of Finance and Tax Authority (Direction Générale des Impôts), a capacity building workshop on international tax treaties and their implementation issues,on 2-6 September in Nouakchott (Mauritania).

"This workshop is part of a series of capacity building workshops carried out by ECA-SRO-NA over the last few years to support tax authorities in Mauritania and other North African countries to increase tax revenue through interventions aimed at improving tax policy and administration for accelerated SDG implementation in the subregion," said Adam Elhiraika, Director of the ECA office for North Africa ahead of the meeting.

Mauritanian Director of Information, Research, Tax Reforms, and Training Sarr Abdoulaye stressed the significant value of the ongoing collaboration with the Economic Commission for Africa. He expressed his gratitude to the experts and participants for their dedication to this third workshop.

International tax treaties play a pivotal role in facilitating cross-border trade and investment. They help prevent double taxation, provide a framework for tax cooperation between countries, mitigate tax evasion and avoidance, and help ensure a fair allocation of taxing rights.

The workshop aims to provide senior Mauritanian tax officials with the practical skills and a comprehensive understanding of tools to improve their capacity to update the national tax treaty model. Discussion topics include the international tax framework, key provisions of tax treaties, related legal and administrative practices and tax treaty negotiations.

ECA is organising this workshop as part of its support to Mauritanian efforts to diversify the national tax base, improve revenue collection, reduce tax evasion and streamline tax processes and ultimately reduce the national dependence on mineral revenues, agricultural and pastoral activities which are heavily exposed to global price fluctuations and the impact of climate change.