Accra, Ghana-Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) Commissioner General James Dorbor Jallah has called for deeper integration among West African tax administrations, stressing that stronger regional cooperation is essential to improving domestic resource mobilization and tackling emerging cross-border and digital taxation challenges.
Commissioner General Jallah made the call during the 8th West African Tax Administration Forum (WATAF) High-Level Policy Dialogue and 23rd General Assembly in Accra, Ghana.
Addressing tax officials, policymakers, regional institutions and development partners, the LRA Commissioner General said WATAF's next phase should move beyond cooperation and knowledge sharing toward greater integration of tax administrations across the region.
He pointed to Liberia's experience as evidence of the benefits of regional collaboration, noting that WATAF membership has contributed to strengthening the country's tax administration.
“Liberia's story is, in a real sense, the WATAF story: an administration made stronger by belonging,” Jallah said.
According to him, the growing integration of trade, capital flows, digital commerce and multinational business activities requires tax administrations to operate with a similar level of regional coordination.
“The taxpayer has integrated. The question before us is whether the tax administrator will integrate too,” he said.
Commissioner General Jallah outlined four key areas he believes should guide West Africa's tax integration agenda: one rulebook, one data space, one voice against illicit financial flows, and one green frontier.
Under the proposed “one rulebook” approach, he called for greater harmonization of tax policies and regulations across West Africa, particularly in the areas of transfer pricing, tax treaty policy and taxation of the digital economy.
He said harmonized rules could help reduce revenue leakage while strengthening the region's collective negotiating position in international tax matters.
On “one data space,” Jallah advocated stronger cross-border information exchange and secure, interoperable systems capable of connecting customs information, beneficial ownership records and other relevant tax data.
He said improved data sharing would enhance tax compliance and enable revenue authorities to better address cross-border transactions.
The LRA chief also urged coordinated regional action against illicit financial flows, including stronger information sharing, coordinated customs valuation and closer monitoring of mining and oil exports.
He further called on West African countries to speak with a stronger collective voice in international tax negotiations.
“The global tax rules of this decade are being written now. West Africa should not be a footnote in that text. We should be an author,” Jallah said.
Addressing environmental taxation, Commissioner General Jallah proposed a coordinated “one green frontier” approach to carbon, pollution and other environmental taxes.
He said regional coordination could help protect West Africa's competitiveness, support environmental objectives and expand opportunities for accessing climate finance.
Jallah also emphasized the growing importance of domestic resource mobilization (DRM) at a time when development assistance is declining, debt-service pressures are increasing and countries across the region are confronting climate-related challenges.
He stressed that stronger domestic revenue generation remains critical to financing national development priorities and promoting sustainable economic growth.
The LRA Commissioner General also called on development partners to increase support for regional tax infrastructure, including shared systems, common standards and institutions designed to strengthen cooperation among national revenue administrations.
As WATAF reflects on its first 15 years, Jallah challenged regional tax leaders to make the organization's next 15 years a period of deeper integration and stronger collective action.
“Let us leave Accra having wagered even bigger, on a West Africa whose tax administrations are as integrated as its economies, as connected as its people, and as confident as its future demands,” he said.
The WATAF High-Level Policy Dialogue and 23rd General Assembly is being held in Accra from September 15–19, 2026, under the theme: “Building Stronger Tax Administrations for Revenue Mobilisation and Sustainable Development.”
The gathering brings together heads of tax administrations, policymakers, regional institutions, development partners and other stakeholders to deliberate on tax administration, domestic resource mobilization and sustainable development across West Africa.