This paper establishes how accountability quality might mediate the effect of tax revenue on sustainable development in 41 sub-Saharan African countries for the period 1990-2019. The empirical evidence is based on three empirical strategies: generalized method of moments, instrumental variable Tobit, and quantile regressions. The following findings are revealed. First, accountability dynamics influence tax revenue in ways that have favourable net effects on sustainable development. Second, the conditional impacts between accountability dynamics and tax revenues are constantly negative, even though the demonstrated net effects are compatible with the paper's theoretical predictions. Third, the net consequences are decomposed to establish thresholds for further policy. Thresholds are points where there are no net effects and where further intensifying accountability dynamics would produce adverse net impacts. At the stated thresholds, further policy actions must be complemented with accountability dynamics in order to modulate tax revenues for strong sustainability. We conclude that policy makers in sub-Saharan African nations should coordinate measures that improve accountability in view of other complementary policies, because accountability serves as a 'force multiplier' enhancing the absorptive capacity of tax mobilization, which in turn promotes strong sustainability.

This book considers the issue of sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa. It assesses the progress that has been made in sustainable development and the challenges that must still be addressed. Most importantly, it focuses on African experiences with sustainable development. Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the framework for the analysis, the manuscript traces how the discourse on sustainability has evolved from a cultural, political, economic, and social perspective. It focuses on the goals for climate action, sustainable cities and communities, institutions, and partnerships to examine the vulnerability of Africans to climate change, attitudes towards sustainability, ethical challenges to implementing sustainable development programs, the relationship between governance, poverty, and sustainability, environmental terrorism, sustainable health care, sustainable transportation, and the use of open green space to promote a sustainable urban community. The book integrates the theory, practice, ethics, and policy of sustainability to better understand the implications for problems and responses to sustainable development in Africa. No book has applied the SDGs to an evaluation of sustainable development in Africa. This book fills that gap. Chapters from leading scholars utilize various research methods combined with case study analysis to provide context and a deeper understanding of the critical issues in sustainability in the sub-Saharan African world. The first section of the book examines the theory of sustainability and provides an overview of some of the most important institutional questions in the discourse on environmental policies in the African world. The next section of the book focuses on the issues and challenges that inform our understanding of sustainability and the implementation of best practices. Sustainability is examined in a global context as the difficulties in enforcing international standards and protections in the state-centered international order are considered. The final part of the book engages in a more in-depth examination of several specific examples of sustainability in urban Africa.

Taxation has been seen as the domain of charisma-free accountants, lawyers and number crunchers – an unlikely place to encounter big societal questions about democracy, equity or good governance. Yet it is exactly these issues that pervade conversations about taxation among policymakers, tax collectors, civil society activists, journalists and foreign aid donors in Africa today. Tax has become viewed as central to African development. Written by leading international experts, Taxing Africa offers a cutting-edge analysis on all aspects of the continent's tax regime, displaying the crucial role such arrangements have on attempts to create social justice and push economic advancement. From tax evasion by multinational corporations and African elites to how ordinary people navigate complex webs of 'informal' local taxation, the book examines the potential for reform, and how space might be created for enabling locally-led strategies.

This open access volume addresses the link between international taxation, the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the medium-term revenue strategy concept. It also analyses how countries and governments can reinforce this link in current and future initiatives in international taxation, including the base erosion profit shifting project initiated by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development with the political mandate of the G20. It discusses the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda that are relevant for taxation and assesses the current work done by international organizations, regional tax organizations and countries to achieve these Sustainable Development Goals. The contributions to this volume provide an interdisciplinary mix of expertise in tax law, international political economy, global governance and international relations. Through these different perspectives, this volume provides an elaborate reference and evaluation framework for multilateral cooperation on tax and development to strengthen the revenue system of developed and developing countries. This topical volume is of interest to students and researchers of the social sciences, law and economics, as well as policy makers working on taxation.

Trade is an essential driver for sustained economic growth, and growth is necessary for poverty reduction. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where three-fourths of the poor live in rural areas, spurring growth and generating income and employment opportunities is critical for poverty reduction strategies. Seventy percent of the population lives in rural areas, where livelihoods are largely dependent on the production and export of raw agricultural commodities such as coffee, cocoa, and cotton, whose prices in real terms have been steadily declining over the past decades. The deterioration in the terms of trade resulted for Africa in a steady contraction of its share in global trade over the past 50 years. Diversification of agriculture into higher-value, non-traditional exports is seen today as a priority for most of these countries. Some African countries-in particular, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, CÔte d'Ivoire, Senegal, and Zimbabwe-have managed to diversify their agricultural sector into non-traditional, high-value-added products such as cut flowers and plants, fresh and processed fruits and vegetables. To learn from these experiences and better assist other African countries in designing and implementing effective agricultural growth and diversification strategies, the World Bank has launched a comprehensive set of studies under the broad theme of "Agricultural Trade Facilitation and Non-Traditional Agricultural Export Development in Sub-Saharan Africa." This study provides an in-depth analysis of the current structure and dynamics of the European import market for flowers and fresh horticulture products. It aims to help client countries, industry stakeholders, and development partners to get a better understanding of these markets, and to assess the prospects and opportunities they offer for Sub-Saharan African exporters.