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Afrodad to hold a validation workshop

Business
THE African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (Afrodad) will today hold a validation workshop on preliminary results of the Cost of Investment Incentives in Zimbabwe study.

THE African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (Afrodad) will today hold a validation workshop on preliminary results of the Cost of Investment Incentives in Zimbabwe study.

BY TARISAI MANDIZHA

The study is being conducted by Afrodad and ActionAid International Zimbabwe and seeks to influence the government to develop and implement transparent, accountable and efficient mechanisms for the mobilisation and utilisation of domestic resources.

Afrodad said the workshop is based on the research results from the draft report entitled The Cost of Investment incentives: The Case for Zimbabwe.

Afrodad said investment incentives are the common tool used by national governments to attract foreign direct investments. In recent years, much debate arose among civil society and development institutions on the viability and effectiveness of investment incentives.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development considers investment incentives as public subsidies to foreign investors with the intention of bridging the gap between the private and social return, thus promoting larger inflows of foreign direct investment.

“Investment incentives are not the only factor to consider when making investment decisions. Other factors include commercial and regulatory policies, market size, political factors, natural resource endowments and human capital, among others,” Afrodad said.

African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (Afrodad)

“[The] Sadc region has equally similar mineral resource endowments and to remain competitive, individual countries offer investment incentives. Most of these countries embark on an investment drive in order to retain investments or attract new investors following macroeconomic challenges such as low growth rates, unemployment and balance of payment deficits. Such competition for foreign investors lead to a phenomenon called race to the bottom.”

Meanwhile, Afrodad says its strategic partners and coalitions nationally, regionally and globally working on tax justice should observe the Tax Solidarity Week running from December 6 to 12 2015.

The Tax Solidarity Week is an Africa-wide call observed in unison with the African Union leaders’ quest to end illicit financial flows from the continent which are estimated to be over $50 billion annually.

This year’s tax week is being held under the auspices of the Stop Bleeding Africa Campaign, which was launched in June this year by the interim working group comprising six organisations namely Afrodad, African Women’s Development and Communication Network Global Alliance for Tax Justice, the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade, Union Confederation, Tax Justice Network Africa and Trust Africa.