Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Taxation in Africa: The Battle for the Ethics of Tax and Responsible Governance

This chapter proposes the necessity for linkages between tax and CSR in Africa. The justification can be found in the recognition of governments as the main vehicle for development, especially in Africa. African governments are confronted with a major human development challenge in growth, infrastructure, jobs, and inequalities. They are also held accountable for the implementation of sustainable development goals. If CSR is to become a vehicle of sustainable human development, then it will have to be contextualized. Africa’s social development needs would become the primary driver for corporate social responsibility, which would include adequate taxation and its complementary government responsibility. It also opens up the opportunity for companies, to play a more active role in holding governments to account for use of such revenues. The chapter analyzes the relationship between the ethics of taxation and corporate social responsibility, to reveal the complex and sometimes contradictory objectives that can create convergence or occasionally, divergence. It examines the emerging CSR and tax legislative example from Mauritius and suggests feasible experimentation between CSR and tax regimes, a re-focus on the social development needs and the accountable use of revenues in this regard.