There is a growing appetite from governments, policymakers and researchers to ensure that the conditions for successful reforms are in place prior to any reform project. This project aims to assess the extent to which the institutional and political contexts in Malawi are conducive to effective property taxation.

Researchers

Graeme Stewart-Wilson

Graeme Stewart-Wilson is a PhD student in Political Science at the University of Toronto and a researcher with ICTD. His research focuses on tax reform in sub-Saharan Africa.

Alexander Chirambo

Alexander K. Chirambo holds a Bsosc degree from the University of Malawi and an Msc in Real Estate from the University of Pretoria. He is the Director of Town Planning and Development for Mzuzu City Council and an adjunct lecturer in property valuation and taxation at Mzuzu University.

Colette Nyirakamana

Dr Colette Nyirakamana is Research Lead for the LoGRI program, and Senior Research Associate at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on local finances, in particular the building of fiscal autonomy in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) subnational governments. She studies the reasons why, despite the significant potential of financial resources, SSA cities fail to raise enough revenue. Colette’s research draws on institutional and political economy theories to show how institutional rules and incentives and local political dynamics create favourable and unfavourable conditions for effective revenue mobilisation. Her research highlights how weak fiscal autonomy limits the capacity of cities to finance public services valued by citizens. She completed her doctoral degree in Comparative Public Policy at McMaster University in Canada.