The two-day meeting is taking place under the theme 'Leverage on Digital Innovation and Regional Collaboration to Facilitate Trade and Optimize Revenue Mobilisation.'
While opening the meeting, the Minister of State in Charge of National Treasury, Godfrey Kabera, highlighted the remarkable progress made across the region, largely due to closer policy coordination and administrative collaboration.
The GDP growth across the region averaged 5.8% in 2024/25, and nearly all revenue administrations exceeded their collection targets, achieving an average annual revenue growth rate of 16%, significantly outpacing GDP growth.
Despite this, Kabera said, informality continues to limit the efficiency and scale of tax collection, while compliance challenges, including smuggling, under-declaration, and slow adoption of e-invoicing, persist. Geopolitical tensions and inflation spikes also disrupt revenue mobilization.
'This gap highlights the need for continued improvement in both policy and administration to optimize domestic resource mobilization,' he said. 'It also underscores the value of regional collaboration, where shared experiences, harmonized practices, and coordinated enforcement can help countries respond more effectively to uncertainty.'
He cautioned against policy approaches that work against regional goals. 'When countries compete through uncoordinated tax benefits, it may offer short-term gains but can erode the collective revenue base. Greater alignment and harmonization of tax policies would reduce harmful competition, simplify compliance for cross-border businesses, and strengthen the integrity of the regional market.'
Kabera encouraged the Commissioners General to engage actively, not only to review progress but also to explore practical solutions at both national and regional levels.
Other participants include experts from the Research and Planning, Customs, Domestic Taxes, ICT, Investigations, Legal Affairs, Integrity, Policy, and Human Capital departments.
In his welcoming remarks, Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) Commissioner General, Ronald Niwenshuti, noted that since the first meeting in 1999, member countries have steadily strengthened domestic resource mobilization, reduced reliance on external financing, and built fiscal sustainability through robust national revenue systems. This progress, he said, has resulted from collective efforts across the region, though challenges remain.
The region’s average tax-to-GDP ratio remains below the 15% threshold, tax expenditures account for around 2.5% of GDP (2022/23), while illicit trade and smuggling continue to undermine gains. According to the AU High-Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows, Africa loses USD 88 billion annually to illicit financial flows, up from USD 50 billion in 2015.
Over the next two days of deliberations, key focus will be on continued digital transformation, smarter enforcement, simplifying taxpayer experiences, and harmonizing approaches across the region. Two other important topics include the digitalization of tax administration and combating illicit financial flows.
'This is especially important given the continued challenges posed by illicit financial flows, which deprive our countries of critical resources,' CG Niwenshuti said.
He emphasized the need for regional collaboration in the harmonization of tax policies and systems, improved cross-border surveillance and enforcement, enhanced digitalization and data exchange, more strategic tax reforms, better management of tax expenditures, and continued knowledge-sharing and peer learning.
'Our progress moves faster when we learn from each other’s experiences,' he said.
Technical teams are expected to present progress in areas such as customs management, the use of data and technology, informal sector taxation, institutional capacity building, and the development of shared protocols and data exchange frameworks.
The 53rd East African Commissioners General (EARACG) meeting opened on Thursday, November 13, in Kigali with a shared vision to strengthen revenue administrations across the region.
The Minister of State in charge of National Treasury, Godfrey Kabera, highlighted the remarkable progress made across the region, largely due to closer policy coordination and administrative collaboration.
Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) Commissioner General, Ronald Niwenshuti, noted that since the first meeting in 1999, member countries have steadily strengthened domestic resource mobilization, reduced reliance on external financing, and built fiscal sustainability through robust national revenue systems.
