Academics facilitate meeting of senior revenue officials in Dakar to discuss tax regulations in the extractive industry

Daker, Senegal. Ministers, senior government officials from across 18 West and Central African countries and representatives from NEPAD met in Dakar, Senegal, from 9 to 11 September 2015 for a three-day workshop focusing on tax regulation in the extractive industry.  

Associate Professor Johann Hattingh from UCT’s Faculty of Law and Tax Institute for Fiscal Research together with Harvard Law School Professor Stephen Shay, facilitated the three-day workshop.  They acted as volunteers for the International Senior Lawyers Project, which supported this NEPAD-led workshop.  The event was co-organized by the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the German aid agency, GIZ.  The aim was to provide an opportunity for the training of senior government officials on taxation issues and fiscal regimes for the extractive industry by providing access to international, regional and national expertise.

In his opening remarks, Senegal’s Minister of Finance, Hon. Birima Mangara, noted that the workshop would contribute to developing much-needed capacity of tax administrations, especially in designing and implementing tax policies in the extractive industry.  

Over the three days, Professors Shay and Hattingh facilitated dialogue with senior policy-makers on a wide range of issues in the extractive industry sector ranging from concession agreements, tax holidays, off-shore sales of shares or mineral interests, transfer pricing, income tax treaties and tax regimes for beneficiation of local communities.

NEPAD plans to conduct similarly-themed workshops across the African continent and it is expected that this work will lead to the production of a policy paper which will be disseminated widely among Member States of the African Union.