Followtaxes was set up to work on improving fiscal transparency by improving the business environment and ease of paying taxes in Sub-Saharan Africa by simplifying the opaque nature of budgeting and taxation operated in the region. We use a simple and interactive platform that educates taxpayers on their rights, obligations, and how revenues are accrued and spent. Followtaxes assessed grants from AlumniTIES, USAID, and YALI Transparency Grants to expand their reach to local communities who have no access to the internet through the use of local radio, distribution of handbills, and community town hall meetings in Nigeria and Togo.
The project yielded a good turn around in the interest of people living in rural areas, on record-keeping, taxation, and following taxes through asking questions. The team has received a sizeable number of activities, questions, and invitations from the rural areas in taxation and government budget. The project’s success was measured based on three main events. Firstly, we receive a greater reception in our stakeholder’s engagement and from the feedback received from the satisfaction survey conducted. Secondly, our radio programs had a wider reach and we received multiple calls and text messages from the rural areas with specific questions and also invitations to training different cooperative groups on how best to keep their records, pay taxes, and followtaxes. We have trained 27 different groups who reached us through our radio programs. Thirdly, the project through her activities secured the additional partnership with other civil societies in the attempt to enhance fiscal transparency and build entrepreneurs with better knowledge. The project has successfully partnered with Safiya Foundation, Ilimi House, BudgIT, PERL, and other Youth Forums to actualize our goals of building a better transparency culture within our communities.
Followtaxes got a boost when Senator John Kerry, The US secretary of state came to Nigeria in August 2016. The Secretary spent more than a quarter of his speech speaking about the co-founder of Followtaxes and the achievements and prospects of Followtaxes in Nigeria and its prospect in Africa. Similarly, the project benefited through its partnerships and the trust of taxpayers. The radio program has reached more than 2 million listeners. The stakeholder’s engagement forum has built a network of the trade association and other stakeholders toward building a culture of transparency in government revenue and following taxes. The projects have created a direct questioning and mediation line between taxpayers and the tax authorities in cities the projects held its stakeholder’s engagements. And the project has secured a series of partnerships that will help it enhance its activities and sustainability over time. Presently Followtaxes is part of the ThnkTank working group in the Implementation of the Nigeria National Action Plan on Open Government Partnership (OGP) and we are part of the steering committee to the Kaduna State, (Nigeria) OGP for improving fiscal transparency and social accountability.
