Property valuation is essential for effectively mobilising property tax revenue. While it may seem straightforward in theory, in practice multiple administrative, legal, political, and financial challenges continue to limit effective property valuation across Africa.
Dominant valuation methods have significant trade-offs between precision and equity, and across the continent property registers are frequently out of date, incomplete, and inaccurate. This leads to inequitable tax burdens across property owners and low collection of revenue that is critical for funding local services.
This webinar will explore these issues and offer insights and potential solutions through the presentation of case studies from Freetown, Sierra Leone and Dakar, Senegal, as well as reflections from discussants from the ministries of budget and finance in Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire.
The webinar will be moderated by the ICTD’s Colette Nyirakamana and Astrid Haas. The presenters and discussants will be:
- Abou Bakarr Kamara – Country Economist for the Liberia and Sierra Leone Programme of the International Growth Centre
- Xaver Schenker – Technical Lead Expert for the property tax reform programme in Freetown
- Serigne Mabèye Fall – Senior Tax Inspector, Tax administration of Senegal
- Justine Knebelmann – Phd candidate, Paris School of Economics
- Ebune Bertrand Njuma – Head of the tax legislation unit of the Ministry of Finance of Cameroon
- Jean Claude Mondo – Cadastre project coordinator, research and planning division of the Ministry of Finance of Cameroon
- Daouda Kamagaté – Technical advisor to the Minister of Budget and State Portfolio, Côte d’Ivoire
This webinar will be held on Zoom, with simultaneous translation between English, French, and Portuguese. Register in advance to receive the Zoom invitation link to join online.
This webinar is the first of three that is being organised by the ICTD’s African Property Tax Initiative (APTI) in partnership with the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF). The webinar series is being held in the lead up to ATAF’s 6th African Tax Research Network (ATRN) Congress scheduled to take place from 6-8 September 2021 in Nairobi, Kenya and/or virtually via Zoom subject to health restrictions. This year’s Congress is on the theme “Maximising property tax revenues through digitalisation,” and there is currently an open call for papers. See the details here and submit your paper by June 5th 2021.
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