Tax Justice Network has launched an online tool to help countries like Kenya track illicit financial transactions with its trade partners.
The Vulnerability Tracker launched Wednesday will help authorities in different countries to detect channels that pose the greatest risk to economic development in the war against illicit trade.
“A key challenge to tackling illicit financial flows is the difficulty countries face in identifying which financial flows carries the largest risk to their economies,” said TJN on its website.
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According to the organisation that champions for justice in taxation, illicit financial flows take place across eight main channels.
The new tool will track data on trade (exports and imports), banking positions (claims and liabilities), foreign direct investment (outward and inward) and portfolio investment (outward and inward).
It allows users to explore illicit financial flows data with interactive tools, and creates a better understand over which countries are more vulnerable to illicit financial flows.
“More importantly, it focuses on why, which partner countries and which channels are responsible for the vulnerability in a country’s economy,” said TJN.
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The tracker has been developed by Thibi and funded by GIZ (German Corporation for International Cooperation).
The new tool will rely on data collected on banking positions from the Bank for International Settlements and foreign direct investment from the Coordinated Direct Investment Survey series of the International Monetary Fund.
It will also trace portfolio investment from the Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey series of the International Monetary Fund and trade data from UN COMTRADE database.
TJN is increasingly adopting technology to boost its capacity and reaching out to strategic partners in fight against illicit financial flows.
The organisation is currently hosting a virtual training for tax justice advocates in Africa to mark its 7th annual edition themed, Tax Justice Advocacy: Increasing Participation of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Journalists through Capacity Building.
This edition of the International Tax Justice Academy (ITJA) enters its second week on Monday bringing together participants from the entire continent drawn from the civil society, media, trade unions, policy makers and academia.
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