Inequality on the continent has grown in the past decade as tax systems have failed to redistribute wealth, says Christian Aid.
Soaring economic growth in many African countries is coming at the expense of the poor, according to a new report that urges governments to overhaul their tax systems to halt rising inequality.
Despite a decade of high growth across the continent, the wealth created is not being equally shared and so progress in human development in Africa has been disappointingly limited, according to the report by Christian Aid and Tax Justice Network-Africa. But the growing gap between rich and poor is not simply the result of the rich getting richer, the authors say.
They also point to money escaping offshore in illicit flows as well as tax systems that are failing to redistribute wealth and in some cases even disadvantaging the poor. “Inequality has been exacerbated by the growth model in many countries which has seen a concentration of income,” said Alvin Mosioma at Tax Justice Network-Africa.
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