Trade Integration

The Blog Symposium is therefore a collective intellectual journey across Africa’s diverse regions, from north to south, west to east. It reflects a multiplicity of perspectives, backgrounds, and academic traditions, united by a shared commitment to Africa’s economic integration and transformation. This could have not been possible without the assistance, advise and support of Prof Olabisi Akinkugbe and the whole AfronomicsLaw team. We are grateful for this platform which is making an unprecedented contribution in amplifying African voices in the space of international (economic) law.

African countries should consider alternatives to the arm’s length principle. A viable alternative to the arm’s length principle: the unitary taxation (formulary apportionment) approach should be considered. This approach looks in detail at the economic activities resulting into the profits of MNCs for tax purposes. Under this approach, tax authorities in Africa will justifiably impose corporate income taxes on “actual” profits of MNCs accruing form economic activities carried out in their jurisdictions, thereby eliminating the opportunities for base erosion and profit shifting in Africa.