09 October 2025 | 08:30 am-10:30 am | Session 3: Fiscal Sovereignty and Industrial Ambition: Reclaiming Tax Policy for Africa’s Transformation

This session will explore how tax policy can be a strategic tool to support Africa’s industrialisation and structural transformation, rather than only as a revenue-raising mechanism. It will examine fiscal frameworks that can promote value addition, regional production chains, and economic diversification. It will also critically assess current practices and their alignment (or misalignment) with long-term industrial policy goals, while offering insights into how fiscal space can be used to nurture domestic industries and reduce dependence on raw commodity exports. It will also address the domestic and international political economy challenges that such uses of tax policy might encounter.