The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has stepped up technical support to Niger to strengthen tax administration, curb profit shifting and improve the country’s ability to mobilize domestic revenue.
Through its Sub-Regional Office for West Africa, ECA is supporting officials of Niger’s Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) with specialized training in transfer pricing, a key area of international taxation that can help governments protect their tax bases and improve revenue collection.
The programme was launched on September 14, 2026, in Niamey by Niger’s Ministry of Economy and Finance as part of ECA’s broader support for the country’s domestic resource mobilization reforms.
The initiative follows a comprehensive assessment of Niger’s domestic resource mobilization system conducted by ECA in 2025. The assessment identified international taxation, tax risk analysis and specialized tax audits as priority areas requiring stronger institutional capacity. The findings and proposed reform priorities were subsequently validated in 2026.
Opening the programme, Sama Mamane, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said developing specialized expertise within the DGI would strengthen the country’s ability to conduct effective tax audits.
He said the training would help tax officials understand the arm’s-length principle, conduct functional analyses of associated enterprises and apply internationally recognized transfer pricing methods.
According to Mamane, applying these tools effectively could improve tax audits and help the government recover revenues that currently escape the tax system.
ECA Director of the Sub-Regional Office for West Africa, Ngone Diop, said the initiative was informed by the challenges identified in the commission’s assessment of Niger’s domestic resource mobilization system.
“The results of this assessment highlight the scale of the challenges, but also the significance of the existing potential,” Diop said.
The assessment points to significant gaps in Niger’s revenue mobilization capacity. The country’s tax-to-GDP ratio was estimated at about 8.05 per cent, well below the 15 per cent international minimum benchmark for developing countries and the 20 per cent regional target set by the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).
The assessment also estimated that the informal sector accounts for between 55 and 65 per cent of Niger’s GDP, limiting the reach of the formal tax system.
Tax expenditures were estimated at approximately 49.3 per cent of tax revenues, while tax arrears stood at about CFA franc 225 billion. The collection rate for amounts identified through tax audits was estimated at only 19.1 percent.
Against this backdrop, ECA said strengthening transfer pricing administration could play an important role in protecting Niger’s tax base, particularly as the country seeks to increase revenue from economic activities within its territory.
Diop said stronger oversight of transfer pricing could help reduce the risk of artificial profit shifting and contribute to a fairer distribution of tax obligations.
Transfer pricing rules are particularly important for transactions involving multinational and associated enterprises, where differences in the prices charged between related companies can affect where profits are recorded and, consequently, where taxes are paid.
The training brings together more than 30 DGI officials and runs from September 14 to 25, 2026. It is designed to build practical capacity within Niger’s tax administration while strengthening the country’s ability to identify tax risks, conduct specialized audits and improve compliance.
ECA said the support is ultimately aimed at helping Niger broaden its domestic revenue base, create greater fiscal space and strengthen economic resilience.
The programme forms part of wider efforts across Africa to improve domestic resource mobilization as governments face pressure to finance development priorities while reducing reliance on external financing.
