BF: Techn. Assistance to the Tax Authorities in Burkina Faso, Phase II 2016-2020

Burkina Faso is fighting against poverty and social inequality. Increased transparency and better domestic revenue mobilization help in dealing with those challenges. Additional resources – coming from a more efficient tax administration – allow the country to develop further while reducing external dependence. SECO funded a first phase of the project to the Central Tax Administration (2009-2014). The encouraging results obtained, also with regard to the fight against corruption, have allowed planning for a second phase to ensure sustainability of the progress made. Many crucial lessons have been learned. This allows to tackle this project with confidence in a context of political renewal and economic challenges in Burkina Faso. SECO is a long-standing partner of Burkina Faso in terms of general budget support. The aid, which constitutes a contribution to the implementation of the national strategy to fight against poverty and social inequality, is accompanied by technical assistance in the area of public finances. Back in 2010, the government adopted a new development framework, the Accelerated Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy (SCADD). For its implementation, the low level of mobilization of domestic revenue was perceived as a major obstacle to deal with. This has therefore led SECO to design in 2009 a bilateral program to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, specifically the Central Tax Administration (DGI). This intervention helped to computerize and reorganize collection procedures and tax management that was so far essentially performed manually. This development has generated transparency in a generally opaque area to citizens. It also enabled a more effective fight against corruption and facilitated the payment of taxes by the population concerned. The internal management of tax offices has also been modernized.