Monrovia – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announces the award of its Revenue Generation for Governance and Growth (RG3) activity to Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), a long-time USAID implementing partner.
The purpose of the new RG3 activity is to build the capacity of targeted Government of Liberia (GOL) institutions, especially the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), to improve domestic resource mobilization (DRM) in Liberia.
RG3 will support the MFDP and LRA to develop the capacity to bring more taxpayers into the tax base, within a framework of sound, predictable and fair revenue policies.
It will help enhance the LRA’s ability to more efficiently and transparently implement those policies and to carry out its revenue collection mandate, with a focus on increasing revenues from core taxes, including income and sales taxes.
RG3 will further provide support for the GOL, the private sector and civil society organizations to strengthen public consultation as well as taxpayer education and engagement on DRM-related issues, with the aim of building tax morale, increasing voluntary tax compliance, and fostering greater trust between taxpayers and the government.
With an emphasis on both how the government collects public resources and how much it collects, RG3 bolsters USAID’s efforts to help Liberia build more effective, accountable, and inclusive governance and to develop sustainable financing for the delivery of health, education, and other public services to its citizens.
Commenting on the RG3 award, the LRA Commissioner General, Elfreda Tamba, said her agency “has enjoyed a good working relationship with USAID on prior projects and in the development of RG3.”
She added that the LRA “appreciates the support of the American people to help Liberia generate more own-source revenue and looks forward to working with USAID and DAI for a successful RG3 activity.”
RG3 has a base three-year period of performance with the option for two additional years.
“The award of RG3 is a concrete manifestation of the United States Government’s commitment to DRM and the goals of the Addis Tax Initiative (ATI),” says Dr. Anthony Chan, USAID/Liberia Mission Director.
Liberia and the United States are founding members of the ATI, which was launched at the UN Financing for Development Conference in July 2015 and seeks to promote increased domestic resource mobilization as a tool to help African countries successfully achieve their Sustainable Development Goals.
DAI, USAID’s implementing partner for the RG3 activity, has significant experience implementing programs focused on domestic resource mobilization and tax collection in several countries, including Bosnia, Jordan, the Philippines, and El Salvador.