NAIROBI, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Experts gathered in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Friday to discuss how to raise tax revenues in Africa.

The conference on reforming tax policy and institutional measures brought together more than 100 delegates, including senior government officials, researchers and scholars from across Africa, to explore ways to develop policy instruments to increase government revenues.

In his opening remarks, National Treasury and Economic Planning Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u said that in recent years, Kenya has seen a decrease in tax collection as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), dropping from about 18 percent in 2013 to 14 percent in 2023.

"This decline in tax revenues as a share of the economy is due to a number of factors, including low tax compliance and a rapidly growing informal sector that is difficult to tax," Ndung'u said.

Ndung'u added that Kenya is in the process of reforming its tax laws to enhance its revenue yield to meet the East African Community bloc's target of 25 percent of GDP.

Dominique Njinkeu, interim executive director of the African Economic Research Consortium, a think tank, said African countries should broaden their tax bases to bring more people into the tax net and generate tax revenues to finance public spending.

Njinkeu noted that African tax authorities should aim to increase tax revenues without affecting economic output as a way to reduce reliance on public debt to fund social services such as education and health. Enditem

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