08 October 2025 | 04:00 pm-05:00 pm | Session 4: Rethinking Domestic Resource Mobilisation

This session takes a critical look at the way taxation and domestic resource mobilisation are usually understood—as though they are interchangeable concepts that both refer to raising tax revenues that are needed to fund public priorities. This approach overlooks one important reality: that the state, through its central bank, is the monopoly issuer of a nation's currency. It also obscures the true role of taxation in the colonial experience and its enduring effects. This conversation will explore why a deeper understanding of taxation and DRM, and the difference between them, is essential if Africa is to achieve true economic sovereignty and prosperity.