DIGITAX Research Programme

Dr Martin Hearson researches the politics of international business taxation, and in particular the relationship between developed and developing countries. He uses field interviews, archival documentation and novel datasets to study how international tax agreements are negotiated. Before joining ICTD, he was a fellow in international political economy at the London School of Economics, teaching courses on political economy and global financial governance. He spent a decade working in the charity sector, and continues to collaborate with development NGOs and intergovernmental organisations in much of his research.

Dr Fabrizio Santoro is based at the Institute of Development Studies, working as a Research Fellow on empirical studies on tax compliance in Rwanda, Eswatini and Uganda, as well as on informal tax in Somalia. He is the Research Lead for Component 2 of the DIGITAX programme. Fabrizio’s main research interests relate to governance, public finance, and taxation, with a strong focus on impact evaluation methodologies and quantitative analysis. Holding a MSc in Economic and Social Sciences at Bocconi University (Milan), Fabrizio completed his PhD in Economics at University of Sussex. He also worked as a Research Associate at Innovations for Poverty Action in Myanmar for a year and a half before joining the ICTD.

Louise is based at the Institute of Development Studies. As the incoming Programme Manager of the DIGITAX Programme, Louise will provide overall coordination and supervision of all DIGITAX activities.

Louise has over 10 years’ experience of managing complex, multi-stakeholder programmes in the fields of evidence into policy, humanitarian response, civil society strengthening and gender. She has lived and worked with grassroots and civil society organisations in Guyana, Colombia and Australia.

Susanne is based at IDS and is responsible for coordinating research ethics, providing strategic support around ICTD budgets and being the main coordinator for ICTD sponsored PhD candidate. She combines excellent knowledge and understanding of international development with project management skills and strong interpersonal skills. She has worked in the international development sector since completing her MA in Rural Development in 2006, first in an international NGO environment and then in a research environment at IDS since 2010.

Rhea Millward-Thompson is based at the Institute of Development Studies in Brighton, where she works as a Senior Project Officer on the DIGITAX programme within ICTD. She is responsible for providing project support, including with contracts, subcontracting, reporting and financial management; funder and partner liaison; and logistics, travel and events.

Njeri Okono holds a Masters degree in Communication Studies, Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism and Bachelor of Education. She has led and managed corporate communications in the international arena in various non-profit sector and inter-governmental organisations in the tropical world. This includes formulating and implementing strategies for communications, advocacy and engagement for entities working in research, development, civic engagement and public–private sector partnerships. Njeri leads strategic communications and engagement in ICTD’s DIGITAX Programme.

Mary Abounabhan completed her Masters of Globalisation, Business, and Development at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) focusing her research on the Moral Economy of social media taxation in Lebanon. Her time at IDS along with her private sector background working in SMEs has driven her to continue research on taxation as a Research Officer with the DIGITAX Programme. She has participated in research on inclusive trade, UK-India trade relationships, and earmarked taxes for food fortification.

Moyo Arewa is the Programme Director for the Local Government Revenue Initiative (LoGRI). He was previously the Manager for Strategic Initiatives at (ICTD) and, before then, a Policy Development Officer at the City of Toronto. His tax research has focused on understanding how digital technologies impact tax policy, administration, and public service delivery.

Adrienne Lees is a Research Officer at ICTD, working primarily on projects relating to tax administration and compliance, and on the DIGITAX programme. She has completed an ODI Fellowship in the Tax Policy Department at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Uganda. Adrienne holds an MSc in Economics for Development from the University of Oxford and is completing her PhD in Economics at the University of Sussex.

Dr Awa Diouf is an economist specializing in public finance in developing and transition countries. She’s particularly interested in tax issues in developing nations. Awa joined the IDS DIGITAX team to work on the Assessment of the impact of taxes on Digital financial services and the approach to designing effective taxation.

She holds a doctorate from the Université Clermont Auvergne in France, and the Initiative Prospective Agricole et Rurale (IPAR), a think tank based in Senegal. Her research focused on the taxation of the primary sector in developing countries, in particular agriculture and extractive industries in Senegal. During her thesis, Awa worked on oil rent-sharing models, the link between tax VAT exemptions and agriculture, import taxation and its effects on competitiveness, and the link between tax revenues from natural resources and agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Following her thesis, she coordinated two projects on the effects of Covid-19 in Senegal and the evaluation of social protection measures for vulnerable populations.

Marco Carreras is an economist by training and works in development economics, focusing on development banks, agricultural economics, energy and corporate taxation. He is a post-doctoral fellow working on the DIGITAX team in the ICTD.

His ongoing research investigates the role of development banks for growth and development, gender patterns in entrepreneurship and livelihoods and drivers of agricultural commercialization. Marco holds a PhD in Science Technology and Innovation (ST&I) from the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at University of Sussex and two MSc’s, one in Economics from the University of Bologna and one in Development Economics from the University of Sussex. He teaches econometrics, statistical methods and development economics at the University of Sussex and at IDS. His past research roles include projects funded by organizations including DFID, ESRC, UNU-WIDER, UNDP among others.

Marco has qualitative and quantitative skills and his work has been published in peer reviewed journals, as working papers and policy reports. He is interested in working on India, Africa and Latin America.

Hannelore Niesten is an ICTD consultant working as a Research Officer for the DIGITAX programme. Her research interests relate to tax issues in connection with economic development. Hannelore joined the IDS DIGITAX team to work on a comparative tax assessment of digital financial services in nine sub-Saharan countries.

Hannelore has worked with several World Bank units on legal and tax projects (Poverty and Equity, Governance, Digital Development, Subnational Doing Business, and Women, Business and the Law). Hannelore practiced tax law at a Brussels based law firm for several years and was a Fulbright Scholar at Georgetown Law School and the University of Florida specializing in tax law. Hannelore holds a PhD in Law from Maastricht University and Hasselt University (double degree), an LLM in Business and Finance law from George Washington University, Advanced Masters in Tax Law and Notary Law from the Catholic University of Louvain, and Masters in Globalization and Law, and European Law from Maastricht University. Hannelore speaks Dutch, English, and French.

Celeste Scarpini recently completed her post-graduate studies at the University of Sussex, where she pursued a MSc in Development Economics. She previously gained a Bachelor’s in Economic Development and International Cooperation, studying between the University of Florence and the University of Reading. During her studies, she devoted herself to the understanding of broad development challenges like poverty and inequality, and of policies to abate them. Her research interest are labour market policies, taxation, and instruments of social insurance, social assistance, and financial inclusion in developing countries. Before joining IDS, she worked as Research Assistant at the Department of Economics of the University of Sussex and as Economic Research Intern at UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Africa (RBA).