TAI Weekly

TAI Weekly | Cracking Financial Apartheid: Can Progressive Taxes Deliver?

By TAI (Role at TAI)
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TAI Weekly

Dear readers,

The TAI Weekly is back with fresh content and a packed issue trying to cover stories from across August ranging from civil society futures to minerals governance to a Focus Topic centered on global tax progress. 

Plus, philanthropy has been both doing and reflecting. See announcements from various TAI members below, but we start with a call from Savanna Ferguson, for “right-to-left thinking” — starting from a transformative vision of the future, and working backward from there (instead of the other way around). This “not only changes what funders fund; it transforms how funders and grantees work together.” Surely, a goal we can all rally behind. 

Happy reading!

TAI team

WHAT'S NEW?

Mouna Ben Garga, a member of our Steering Committee, challenges the NGO model, asking readers to reimagine civil society beyond traditional structures. She envisions leaderful networks rooted locally but linked globally, regional coalitions with policy leverage, funding ecosystems mixing local capital and community resources, and hubs rather than hierarchies that enable action without owning it.

Former USAID senior advisor Jennifer Anderson Lewis calls on donors to maintain anti-corruption momentum through cross-border approaches, backing changemakers, harnessing coalition power, aligning collective action, and institutionalizing integrity. Anderson Lewis emphasizes the critical need for sustained commitment in challenging times.

Folashadé Soulé, Mawuenyega Makafui Butu, and Emmanuel Amoah-Darkwah examine Ghana's lithium project and its community-centered mineral governance, while Jabulani Shaba explores how benefits from Zimbabwe's lithium extraction can flow directly to local communities.

As NGO offices close and donors withdraw, Sibhale Zuma sees civil society changing form rather than disappearing entirely. This evolution reflects the resilient nature of grassroots organizing and community-driven change, demonstrating that civic engagement transcends institutional structures.

John Mahama urges Africans to defend press freedom and empower marginalized voices, and emphasizes the media's crucial role in democratic accountability across the continent.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas resigned following corruption scandals exposed by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project member center Siena and independent broadcaster Laisvės TV. The investigative reporting linked the politician to suspicious loans, real estate deals, and offshore companies, sparking two criminal investigations and public protests demanding his resignation.

The Sentry's analysis reveals the need for transparency and sanctions in Congo's critical minerals deals. Sasha Lezhnev and John Prendergast argue that while peace between Rwanda and Congo represents progress, sustained pressure remains essential for lasting stability and ethical resource governance.

The first Interim Monitoring Report on the Pact for the Future captures 62 civil society contributions from all regions, documenting stakeholder actions to support implementation of multilateral commitments. The comprehensive mapping shows diverse approaches to advancing the Pact's objectives across different contexts.

New research shows Africans increasingly reach out to leaders while civic action participation remains limited, revealing complex patterns in democratic engagement across the region.

Follow these ten upcoming conferences and forums that focus on anti-corruption and transparency, providing platforms for knowledge sharing and network building among practitioners, researchers, and advocates working on governance issues globally.

Antonia Ida Grafl at the International Monetary Fund calls for better integration of climate considerations in public financial management (PFM), and makes emphasis on the need for "greening" PFM systems to address environmental challenges and fiscal sustainability in an era of climate change.

ESSENTIAL READING

"The Care Society: Governance, Political Economy and Social Dialogue for a Transformation with Gender Equality" examines scenarios for achieving care society transformations. The document proposes pathways for change through governance, political economy, social dialogue, cultural transformation, measurement, and financing as key elements for sustainable development with gender equality.

FROM OUR MEMBERS

HUMANITY UNITED, FORD FOUNDATION, AND OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS: Together with the Global Futures Collaborative and the Institute for Security Studies, invite those interested to the 3rd U.S.-Africa Futures Summit. This gathering will bring policymakers, civil society, and the African diaspora into conversation on Africa’s development, governance, and global engagement through the lens of commercial diplomacy. Register to join virtually.

FORD AND MACARTHUR FOUNDATIONS: Have joined a major coalition committing $36.5 million to support public media stations at risk of closure in the U.S. following federal funding cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 

FORD FOUNDATION: Reflects on nearly a decade of unrestricted multi-year support, and shares lessons learned from its 2015 commitment to flexible funding approaches. Mike Scutari examines the foundation's experience and outcomes from this significant shift in grantmaking strategy and its impact on grantee organizations.

MACARTHUR FOUNDATION: President John Palfrey provides an update on "stepping up" initiatives, with perspectives on the foundation's evolving approach to addressing contemporary challenges through strategic philanthropy and partnership building on his "Set It at Six" update.

TOOLS AND TRENDS FOR FUNDERS

The Proximate Fund, hosted at Myriad USA and founded by Degan Ali (Executive Director of Adeso), reimagines philanthropy in Africa by moving away from extractive models toward systems rooted in local leadership, mutual aid, and dignity. It aims to build a continent-wide network of locally governed funds, empowering civil society and social entrepreneurs to drive sustainable, community-based solutions.

Michelle Génecé Patterson identifies the top 10 storytelling mistakes made by foundations and nonprofits, and offers practical guidance on how to fix them. Her insights help organizations communicate more effectively and authentically connect with their audiences and stakeholders.

Foundation spend-down decisions are driven by the desire for immediate impact and concerns about future generational alignment with founding values. This research explores why some philanthropists choose to wind down their foundations rather than operate in perpetuity, with the urgency of today's challenges influencing these strategic decisions.

Mark Suzman discusses the Gates Foundation's $200 billion commitment over the next 20 years before shutting down, and explains the strategic thinking behind this unprecedented philanthropic timeline and spend-down decision in a special interview with Stacy Palmer.

ESSENTIAL READING

Fifteen years after its launch, the Giving Pledge remains unfulfilled and unfulfillable, according to analysis by Chuck Collins, Bella DeVaan, Helen Flannery, and Dan Petegorsky. The report argues that voluntary philanthropic commitments are insufficient for addressing systemic inequality and building a fairer future.

FOCUSED TOPIC OF THE WEEK:

Global Tax Reform: Progress and Challenges in Wealth Redistribution

Global momentum for progressive taxation is gaining ground as organizations and governments push for systemic reforms to address wealth inequality. Greenpeace has called on G20 leaders to end what they term "financial apartheid" by implementing taxes on the super-rich, arguing that concentrated wealth undermines democratic governance and requires urgent intervention through progressive taxation measures.

This push for wealth taxation finds validation in Spain's recent experience, where the country successfully implemented wealth taxes without experiencing the feared exodus of billionaires. The Spanish case demonstrates that progressive taxation can be effective when properly designed and implemented, offering valuable lessons for other jurisdictions considering similar measures to combat inequality.

Meanwhile, international tax cooperation continues to expand as Zimbabwe signed and Madagascar ratified the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, bringing the total number of participating jurisdictions to 151. This multilateral framework strengthens global tax cooperation while maintaining extensive taxpayer protection safeguards.

However, tax governance challenges persist in some regions. Kenya faces scrutiny over questionable deals involving the Kenyatta family, highlighting ongoing issues with transparency and accountability in public-private partnerships, particularly in expressway development projects. This controversy underscores the continued need for robust oversight mechanisms in tax-related public ventures.

In the extractive sector, new resources are emerging to help governments better manage their resource revenues. A recently developed toolkit provides tax administrators and policymakers with practical guidance on ring-fencing mining income, aimed at preventing tax base erosion and improving policy design and implementation in managing resource revenues.

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