The Africa Progress Panel welcomed a G8 communiqué on Tuesday, which set out a list of practical actions to be taken to crack down on tax evasion and avoidance, but expressed reservations that more work remains to be done on the issue of beneficial ownership.

Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair of the Africa Progress Panel, said: “This is a tremendous breakthrough for fair taxation and corporate transparency that will eventually bring benefits for millions of people in Africa. I am delighted to see the G8 declare its commitment to establish the automatic exchange of information between tax authorities and to recognise that all countries must benefit from this exchange.”

“G8 leaders have confirmed that it is not acceptable for global citizens to carry the cost of tax avoidance by multinational companies. However, more work now needs to be done to tackle beneficial ownership in order that resource-rich countries around the world can benefit fully from the resources beneath their soil.”