Financial Transparency Coalition

Many experts have called Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania the “next frontier” of gas and oil production. In fact, these reserves have the potential to turn these nations’ economies from “mixed” to “success” stories. One large impediment to this possibility, however, is trade misinvoicing, which occurs on a massive scale. It I so serious that this problem threatens their governments’ ability to capitalize on the potential gains associated with the discovery of oil and gas. The discovery of oil in Kenya and Uganda, and gas in Tanzania has thrust each of these nations into the world’s energy spotlight. In 2006 Uganda...

When it comes to transparency and development, Asia is home to many paradoxes. China is ready to overtake the United States as the world's largest economy, but also home to rapidly rising income income inequality. Hong Kong, China's Special Administrative Region, is meanwhile the world's fastest growing tax haven. And, as you will see in the presentation below, Asia is also home to alarming levels of endemic corruption and of financial opacity. High income inequality can undermine social cohesion, create barriers to social and economic mobility, and result in increased corruption and cronyism. Meanwhile, illicit financial flows erode...

Guinea is the world’s largest producer of the mineral Bauxite, which is the main source of aluminum. Guinea also possesses reserves of hydropower and solar power, and it exports other valuable minerals: it’s the world’s fifth largest producer of iron ore and it also produces gold and diamonds. Historically, however, Guinea has experienced tremendous difficulty in profiting from this potential. Correspondingly, Guinea has high rates of poverty, high inflation, and low levels of tax revenues. According to a joint study by Global Financial Integrity and the African Development Bank, Guinea lost about 10 percent of its GDP...

If you're anything like me, you may have spent an hour waiting in line at the U.S. post office yesterday. I realize I'm a blogger, and a graduate student, and in my twenties -- and all of these factors made me rather unlike the typical pen-and-paper-tax-filer -- but there's just something so satisfying about addressing an envelope (and sometimes a check) to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.