IBFD Centre for Studies in African Taxation (CSAT) Concept... · 1. About CSAT The IBFD Centre for Studies in African Taxation (CSAT) is a think tank devoted to the study and development

IBFD Centre for Studies in African Taxation (CSAT) Concept Paper on the Objectives and Organizational Structure

Compiled by: Kennedy Munyandi CSAT Project Manager

Belema Obuoforibo CSAT Project Committee Chair

CSAT is a think tank devoted to the study and development of African taxation and promoter of the Annual IBFD Africa Tax Symposium

IBFD Centre for Studies in African Taxation (CSAT)

2 © 2016 IBFD

Concept Paper on the Objectives and Organizational Structure

1. About CSAT The IBFD Centre for Studies in African Taxation (CSAT) is a think tank devoted to the study and development of

African taxation. CSAT provides research-based opinions and best practices guidance, whether solicited or

unsolicited, on current domestic and international tax issues as they relate to Africa. CSAT aims at being on the

leading edge of creativity and innovation in order to stay ahead of international tax developments.

CSAT is an integral part of the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD), an independent not-for-profit

foundation. Consequently, CSAT is an autonomous think tank.

2. Statement of Need

The tax knowledge gap between African countries and other countries of the world is evidently very broad,

particularly in relation to international taxation. There is a need to enhance tax expertise in African countries if these

countries are to collect the revenue necessary to fund development programmes and essential services, and to

achieve sustainable economic growth.

Further, in a rapidly changing tax arena where it is generally agreed that such vices as base erosion and profit

shifting (BEPS) can better be tackled through a globally coordinated response (as opposed to continued inter-

jurisdictional competition for tax revenue), any major tax knowledge gap between countries can be a hindrance to

these coordination efforts. In fulfilment of its mission statement, which is to spread the word of international taxation

throughout the world, and with the support of collaborating partners, IBFD endeavours to narrow this knowledge gap

through the activities of CSAT.

Further, IBFD views this initiative as a contribution towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development

Goals 2015 and, in particular, "Goal 17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development". One of the

targets of this Goal is to "strengthen domestic resource mobilization, including through international support to

developing countries, to improve domestic capacity for tax and other revenue collection."

CSAT's tax research activities will have a bias towards international taxation, although research in any other areas of

tax policy will also be included. It is our belief that African countries are most lacking in this very specialized area of

taxation.

3. Objectives and Methodology

The objectives of CSAT are to study and provide well-researched opinions on taxation in Africa, to encourage

research by Africans for Africa and to find practical solutions that work within an African context. To achieve this,

CSAT will:

organize an annual 3-day Africa Tax Symposium on Trends in International Taxation: an African Perspective, to

be hosted by an African country, at which research papers on trends (and recent tax developments) in

international taxation are presented and discussed;


3 © 2016 IBFD


carry out research on international and comparative taxation in general, as they relate to Africa, and in particular

to study specialist topics, such as:

transfer pricing;

natural resources taxation; and

tax aspects of regional economic integration;

disseminate research material and findings through the publication of academic books, working papers, journals,

articles, etc., and to present at other conferences in Africa;

engage in debates on African taxation through various forums, including social media;

provide research-based advice to African governments by responding to any released “public call for comments”

tax policy documents;

develop internal skills and institutional capacity through:

promoting a “best tax research paper competition” among postgraduate African students; and

providing a short-term staff attachment at IBFD;

make open calls for research papers on specialist tax topics affecting Africa; and

carry out any other activities in line with the above objectives.

4. Organization and Personnel CSAT’s activities are supervised by a Management Committee, whose membership includes representation from

IBFD’s Executive Board. The Management Committee is responsible for, among others, procuring financial resources

for CSAT and ensuring that CSAT operates within its objectives.

The day-to-day activities of CSAT are run by a project manager, who reports to the Management Committee.

The Management Committee consists of:

Ms Belema Obuoforibo (IBFD Director Knowledge Centre): Chairman

Prof. Victor van Kommer (IBFD Director Tax Services): Member - Institutional cooperation

Mr Kennedy Munyandi (IBFD Manager Africa): Member - CSAT Project Manager

Mrs Sorrel Hidding (IBFD Head of Marketing): Member - Marketing & Business Development

A Secondary Management Committee is currently being constituted. This will be an extended committee comprising:

the four (4) members of the Management Committee;

a senior tax advisor from Africa;

an African university tax academician;

an African tax administrator or policy-maker; and

a tax advocate from a civil society organization.

The Secondary Management Committee will meet annually during the Africa Tax Symposium.

The Researchers under the IBFD Africa, Middle East and Latin America Knowledge Group constitute the core

research team of CSAT. Additional researchers and expertise are sourced from the larger pool of researchers under

the IBFD Knowledge Centre.


4 © 2016 IBFD


Appendices I and II provide the profiles of the members of the Management Committee and the current core research

staff of CSAT.

5. Financial Resources

5.1 Main financier IBFD is the main financier of CSAT.

5.2 Collaborative partnerships CSAT seeks collaborative partnerships with the following institutions:

the African Union (AU) in general, and the African Union Commission on International Law (AUCIL) in particular;

the 8 AU recognized Regional Economic Communities (RECS): African Maghreb Union (AMU), Common Market

for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Community of Sahel Saharan States (CEN-SAD), East African

Community (EAC), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Economic Community of West

African States (ECOWAS), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and Southern African

Development Community (SADC);

multilateral institutions, such as The World Bank (and the International Finance Corporation, IFC) and the United

Nations (and in particular, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA);

the European Union (EU); and

African universities and institutions providing training in taxation.

5.3 Sponsorship CSAT welcomes sponsorship from other stakeholders in African development, including global businesses.

The first major activity and sponsorship opportunity for CSAT was the two-day Africa Tax Symposium held in

Livingstone, Zambia, in June 2015. Financed primarily by IBFD, the Symposium also benefitted from the generous

support and sponsorship of KPMG Zambia Limited and the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA). The

Symposium was fully endorsed by the Zambian Ministry of Finance.

The overall attendance of 130 delegates far exceeded initial expectations of 50 – 80. Delegates came from 23

countries and represented private practice and industry, government agencies and civil society organizations. An

extensive questionnaire among the delegates (with a 62% response rate) showed that the Africa Tax Symposium is

indeed a highly welcome and valued event:

88% felt their objectives for attending the Symposium were met;

91% were happy with the Symposium topics; and

92% were happy with the Symposium speakers.

Delegate feedback further indicated that an additional day would also be welcomed. Future symposia will therefore

last three days. In addition, in 2016 CSAT will begin to carry out the other activities under its mandate, providing

further opportunities for mutually beneficial sponsorship.


5 © 2016 IBFD


Appendix I: CSAT Management Committee Members __________________________________________________________________________________________

Belema Obuoforibo - Chairman Belema R. Obuoforibo CTA ATT (Fellow) is the Director of the IBFD Knowledge Centre

and Member of IBFD's Executive Board. Before joining IBFD, Ms Obuoforibo worked in

London for many years as a UK Chartered Tax Adviser, specializing in the taxation of

high net worth individuals and owner-managed businesses. Ms Obuoforibo is a member

of the Technical Committee of the UK Chartered Institute of Taxation, specifically of the

International Taxes Sub-Committee and of the Owner Managed Businesses Sub-

Committee. Ms Obuoforibo is widely published in the field of cross-border taxation and

her experience as a lecturer in this area has taken her across Europe, Africa and the

Caribbean. Ms Obuoforibo has also worked in an advisory capacity for various African governments.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Victor van Kommer - Institutional Cooperation

Victor van Kommer became a member of IBFD’s Executive Board in 2008 and Tax

Services Director in 2011. Mr van Kommer previously worked with the Dutch Tax and

Customs Administration, where he was also in charge of the Planning and Control

Department, and later served as a member of the management team of the Fiscal

Intelligence and Investigation Division (FIOD). He has published several books on the

Dutch tax system and its organization, performance management and internal auditing.

His recent Handbook on Tax Administration has been translated into several languages.

Mr van Kommer holds a master’s degree in Tax Law from the University of Leiden and is

Professor of Tax Policy at the Utrecht University School of Economics.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Kennedy Munyandi - CSAT Project Manager

Kennedy Munyandi is the Manager of the Africa, Middle East and Latin America

Knowledge Group at IBFD. He has more than 20 years’ experience in tax administration,

policy, research and publication, and in government consultancy. His areas of interest

include international tax law, investment tax incentives and natural resources taxation. Mr

Munyandi has worked as a Senior Tax Inspector at the Zambia Revenue Authority and,

on secondment, as a Tax Advisor at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

Development (OECD). He holds an tax law from Leiden University (2005) and a

certificate in comparative tax policy and administration from Harvard University (2011).


6 © 2016 IBFD


Sorrel Hidding - Marketing & Business Development Sorrel Hidding became Head of Marketing at IBFD in 2007. She has over 20 years’

experience in global B2B publishing, with a proven track record in the fields of marketing,

business development, sales and lean implementation. Prior to joining IBFD, Mrs Hidding

worked as Marketing Manager with Elsevier Science and as Sales & Global Marketing

Manager with Bentham Science Publishers. Mrs Hidding holds a bachelor’s degree in

Communication Science and Psychology from the University of South Africa and a

postgraduate diploma in Digital Marketing. She has also successfully followed the

Masterclass Cycle in Strategic Business Management & Leadership at the TiasNimbas

Business School.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Appendix II: CSAT Research Staff __________________________________________________________________________________________

Ridha Hamzaoui Ridha Hamzaoui is the Regional Tax Manager for Africa and Middle East regions under

the IBFD Africa, Middle East and Latin America Knowledge Group. He is an expert on tax

law and tax treaties for the United Nations Development Programme in the Middle East

and North African regions. Mr Hamzaoui has a specialized master’s degree in tax law

from the Faculty of Juridical, Political and Social Sciences of Tunis, Tunisia, an LLM in

International Tax Law from the International Tax Center, Leiden University, the

Netherlands, a certificate in comparative tax policy and administration from Harvard

University and is a graduate of the National School of Public Treasury in Paris, France.

Before joining IBFD, he worked for four years as a senior tax advisor within the Tax Legislation General Directorate of

the Tunisian Ministry of Finance. Mr Hamzaoui is a regular speaker in the Africa-Middle East region on international

tax issues, an instructor for the IBFD open and in-house courses and has also lectured at the Vrije Universiteit of

Amsterdam, Dauphine University in Paris and Strathmore University in Kenya.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Monia Naoum

Monia Naoum is a Senior Research Associate for the IBFD Africa, Middle East and Latin

America Knowledge Group. She has editorial responsibility for publications on the Middle

East and North Africa region and is a tax specialist on a number of countries in the

region. She regularly participates in cross-border taxation research projects and client-

tailored research. Before joining IBFD in 2011, Ms Naoum worked as a tax official at the

Moroccan tax authority, where she dealt with the corporate taxation aspect in the

operational services. Ms Naoum holds an executive training programme certificate in

taxation from the Moroccan Tax Administration Training Centre, a Master of Engineering


7 © 2016 IBFD


degree in Operations Research and Strategic Management from the Institut National de Statistique et d’Economie

Appliquée in Morocco and an advanced LLM programme in International Taxation from the University of Leiden, the

Netherlands.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Emily Muyaa

Emily Muyaa is a Senior Research Associate for the IBFD Africa, Middle East and Latin

America Knowledge Group. She has editorial responsibility for publications on the Sub-

Saharan Africa region and is a tax specialist on a number of countries in the region. Ms

Muyaa regularly participates in cross-border taxation research projects, training for IBFD

government consultancy projects, and also responds to client requests on various

international tax subjects. Before joining IBFD in 2014, Ms Muyaa worked in the Transfer

Pricing Division of the Large Taxpayers Office at the Kenya Revenue Authority. Ms.

Muyaa holds a certificate in tax administration from the Kenya Revenue Authority Training

Institute, an undergraduate degree in law from the University of Nairobi, a postgraduate diploma in law from the

Kenya School of Law and an LLM (Adv.) in international taxation from the International Tax Center at the Leiden

University, the Netherlands. She also holds an advanced diploma in accounting and business from the Association of

Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Ms Muyaa is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a member of the

Law Society of Kenya.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Vanessa Arruda Ferreira

Vanessa Arruda Ferreira is a Principal Research Associate for the IBFD Africa, Middle

East and Latin America Knowledge Group. She is the chief editor for Latin America and

an instructor for IBFD International Tax Training. She is currently concluding her PhD at

the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on the topic of improper use of tax treaties

by contracting states. Vanessa is a Brazilian attorney with a law degree from

Universidade Católica de Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil (2003). She holds a postgraduate

specialization degree in public law from Escola Superior de Magistratura de Pernambuco

in Recife, Brazil (2006) and a master's degree in tax law (LLM) from the Université Paris I

Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris, France (2007). Prior to joining IBFD, Ms Arruda Ferreira was a senior associate at the

Brazilian law firm Trigueiro Fontes Advogados in Recife, Brazil.


8 © 2016 IBFD


Diana Calderon Manrique

Diana Calderon Manrique is a Research Associate for the IBFD Africa, Middle East and

Latin America Knowledge Group. She joined IBFD in 2015 after having successfully

completed her LLM (Adv.) in international tax law at the International Tax Center, Leiden

University, the Netherlands. She is a country specialist for a set of countries in Latin

America. Previously, she worked as an associate at Norton Rose Fulbright’s tax practice

in Caracas, Venezuela, providing tax advice and litigation services to multinational clients

on a wide range of domestic and international tax matters, particularly concerning the oil

and gas and Venezuelan energy sectors.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Lydia Ogazón

Lydia Ogazón is a Senior Research Associate for the IBFD Africa, Middle East and Latin

America Knowledge Group. She is the country specialist for Mexico and other Latin

American countries. Before joining IBFD, Ms Ogazón worked for over 12 years for the

International Tax Treaties Unit of the Ministry of Finance in Mexico and the Group

Taxation Unit within the same Ministry. She was a member of the Mexican delegation for

the negotiation of double tax treaties and tax information exchange agreements, and the

Mexican substitute delegate to the OECD Working Party 6 on the Taxation of Multinational

Enterprises and the OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices. Prior to joining the Ministry of

Finance, Ms Ogazón worked for EY Mexico as a tax adviser and auditor. Ms Ogazón is a member of the Mexican

College of Public Accountants, a certified public accountant with a public accounting bachelor’s degree from the

Instituto Politécnico Nacional of Mexico and holds a Diploma in international taxation from the Instituto Tecnológico

Autónomo of Mexico – Duke University.

Contact

IBFD-CSAT

Rietlandpark 301 1019 DW Amsterdam P.O. Box 20237 1000 HE Amsterdam The Netherlands E-mail: [email protected]

Max-Nathan Punter

CSAT Secretariat

E-mail: [email protected]

Tel.: +31 20 554 0146

Kennedy Munyandi

CSAT Project Manager E-mail: [email protected] Tel.: +31-20-554 0326 Mobile: +31-6 -1 327 4957

mailto:[email protected]



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IBFD Centre for Studies in African Taxation (CSAT) Concept... · 1. About CSAT The IBFD Centre for Studies in African Taxation (CSAT) is a think tank devoted to the study and development