07/02/2023 – As part of the Fiscal Transition Support Programme in West Africa (FTSP), the OECD is organising a training workshop on transfer pricing from 7-9 February 2023 in Dakar, Senegal, for representatives of the 15 member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, and the Commissions of ECOWAS and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

The workshop looks at different approaches that developing countries can consider when faced with lack of comparables data and difficulties in accessing said data for transfer pricing analysis. It draws on the Toolkit for Addressing Difficulties in Accessing Comparables Data for Transfer Pricing Analyses prepared by the Platform for Collaboration on Tax, a joint initiative of the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group.

Aimed at tax auditors and public officials working in international taxation in West African countries, the workshop consists of presentations by OECD experts alongside practical case studies designed to expose the participants to concrete transfer pricing issues. Conducted in English and French, the workshop provides participants with the opportunity to share their experience and exchange best practices, to the benefit of their respective tax administrations.

At the workshop’s opening ceremony, Mr. Abdoul Aziz Gueye, Co-ordinator at the Senegalese Directorate General for Taxes and Domains, was proud to host this regional training workshop in Dakar, "which will support the efforts made by countries in the sub-region to ensure that multinationals present on their territory pay their fair share of taxes". For her part, Ms. Samia Abdelghani, Senior Tax Advisor at the OECD, stressed "the importance of building the transfer pricing capacity of tax administrations in the sub-region so as to enable them to better combat tax avoidance practices in the service of domestic resource mobilisation". Lastly, Mr. Hamadoum Dicko, Head of tax issues at WAEMU, commended the organisation by the OECD of this third transfer pricing workshop, which addresses the recurring difficulties posed by the lack of comparables in developing countries and which will allow participating countries to discover alternative approaches that can facilitate tax inspections of multinational enterprises operating in West Africa.

The objective of the PATF, which is funded by the European Union, is to implement fiscal transition programmes in West Africa following the implementation of regional trade liberalisation policies. Under the programme, the OECD and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes are providing assistance to the 16 West African states and the ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions to enable them to better fight tax base erosion, profit shifting, and illicit financial flows with a view to mobilising domestic resources and improving tax transparency.

More information on the OECD's work on building capacity in developing countries to implement international tax standards is available online: https://www.oecd.org/tax/tax-global/

For more information on the workshop, please contact Ben Dickinson, Head of the Global Relations and Development Division in the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (+33 1 45 24 15 29), or ctp.communications@oecd.org.