Mary Abounabhan

Research Officer

DIGITAX Programme

Mary Abounabhan is a Research Officer for the DIGITAX programme. Her research focuses on the the appropriateness and effectiveness of digital financial services taxes and their development impacts. She has completed her Masters of Globalisation, Business, and Development at the Institute of Development Studies, focusing her research on the Moral Economy of social media taxation in Lebanon.

Publications

Partner Publication

Taxing Informal Economies: Practices, Challenges & Ways Forward

December 2024
Ezera Madzivanyika, Ronald Waiswa, Nthabiseng Debeila, Max Gallien, Vanessa van den Boogaard & Mary Abounabhan
Policy Brief

Taxing Mobile Money in Africa: Risk and Reward

July 2024
Martin Hearson, Philip Mader, Mary Abounabhan, Marco Carreras, Awa Diouf, Adrienne Lees, Hannelore Niesten, Fabrizio Santoro & Christopher Wales
Working Paper

What are the Enablers and Impacts of Digital Financial Services? An Updated Evidence Gap Map

July 2024
Philip Mader, Keir Macdonald, Maren Duvendack, Mary Abounabhan, Celeste Scarpini & Hemangi Sharma
Research in Brief

What are the Enablers and Impacts of Digital Financial Services? An Updated Evidence Gap Map

July 2024
Philip Mader, Keir Macdonald, Maren Duvendack, Mary Abounabhan, Celeste Scarpini & Hemangi Sharma
Research in Brief

Mobile Money Taxes: Knowledge, Perceptions and Politics. The Case of Ghana

June 2024
Mary Abounabhan, Awa Diouf, Fabrizio Santoro, Carlos Sakyi-Nyarko & Celeste Scarpini
Research in Brief

The E-levy and Merchant Payment Exemption in Ghana

May 2024
Celeste Scarpini, Fabrizio Santoro, Mary Abounabhan & Awa Diouf
See all Related Publications

Blogs

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Photo of a phone screen sending mobile money load
April 2025|
Blog

Ghana’s e-levy: 3 lessons from the abolished mobile money tax

by Max Gallien, Martin Hearson & Mary Abounabhan

The e-levy’s intense politicisation and complex design made it an interesting case of a wider trend of mobile money taxes in the region. We learned more about the e-levy’s impact on informal sector workers in Accra, knowledge and sentiments, registered merchant exemptions and mobile money usage….
July 2024|
Blog

Taxing mobile money: Five critical strategies for policymakers

by Awa Diouf, Hannelore Niesten & Mary Abounabhan

Revenue authorities, policymakers, industry, and researchers met to explore how taxes on mobile money could be effectively and equitably designed….
Esta Sechbeia (24) looks on as she waits for customers at a mobile money stand on the side of the road in the Tesano neighbourhood, Ghana.
April 2023|
Blog

Building trust by earmarking taxes on digital financial services

by Mary Abounabhan, Hannelore Niesten & Amrita Saha

Can earmarking provide an answer to the controversy of taxes on digital financial services such as Ghana’s e-levy? Although an unpopular policy tool, it may be a necessary evil….
Ghana: A woman carries fruit on her head as she passes a mobile money stand in the Tesano neighborhood.
February 2023|
Blog

The Ghana e-levy: Can the latest rate reduction win greater public acceptance and increase revenue?

by Awa Diouf, Alex Ampaabeng, Mary Abounabhan & Hannelore Niesten

The reduced tax rate on electronic transactions is unlikely to satisfy Ghanaians given the country’s rising inflation…
Photo of women of Takalafiya-Lapai village, Niger State, Nigeria
January 2023|
Blog

Mobile money tax: Is there a gender gap?

by Hannelore Niesten & Mary Abounabhan

Gender and tax: As Africa increasingly introduces specific taxes on digital financial services (DFS) such as mobile money, do DFS taxes exacerbate or reduce gender inequality?…
elderly african woman and young black man using phone and credit card
August 2022|
Blog

Ghana’s new e-levy: The sour, sweet and switches so far

by Fabrizio Santoro, Mary Abounabhan & Awa Diouf

Introduced in May 2022, Ghana’s e-levy is a 1.5 per cent tax on the transfer amount of electronic transactions. The objective is to improve tax revenues by tapping into fast-growing digital financial services (DFS). However, many exemptions are applied to the tax design….

News and events

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Event
An aerial shot of a busy market place.
18 February 2025 - 21 February 2025
Workshop: Tax and Informal Economies in Africa: Charting Ways Forward

ICTD is hosting a focused workshop in Akosombo, Ghana from 18th to 21st February 2024 that seeks to chart new ways forward in how revenue authorities engage with informal economies….

Research Projects

Completed Project

Digital Payment Tax Factsheets

Mary Abounabhan & Hannelore Niesten
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