ATRN Advisory Board Onboarding Meeting

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Prof Nicaise Mede – Director, Center for Studies and Research on Administration and Finance (CERAF), Mr Henry Gaperi – Regional Revenue Administration Advisor, AFRITAC West 2 International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr Logan Wort – ATAF Executive Secretary, Ms Halima Shehu – Deputy Director of Research Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Professor Annet Oguttu – Professor of Tax Law and Acting Head of Department, Taxation Department, University of Pretoria, Dr Aida Opoku Mensah – Managing Director Centric Digital GH & Former Special Advisor to the United National Economic Commission for Africa, Ms Mary Baine – ATAF Deputy Executive Secretary, Dr Fred Mugambi Mwirigi – Commissioner Kenya School of Revenue Administration (KESRA), Kenya revenue Authority (KRA), Dr Ezera Madzivanyika – ATAF Manager: Applied Research and Statistics, Professor Fanie van Zyl – Professor in the Department of Mercantile Law, University of Pretoria, and Ms Caroline Mutayabarwa – ATAF Manager: Tax Academy.

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JOHANNESBURG: The African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) under its African Tax Research Network (ATRN) programme convened an onboarding meeting of the new ATRN Advisory Board from 24 to 25 January 2023 in Rosebank, Johannesburg. This follows the appointment of the Board members at the
annual 7th ATRN Congress which was held in Accra, Ghana in September 2022. 

The ATRN Advisory Board was appointed to ensure the academic independence of the ATRN programme’s products and activities. The ATRN Board consists of 10 members who were appointed to serve for a period of 2 years. The members were selected owing to their rich expertise and dedication to the field of tax research in Africa and they come from a diverse background including: the academia, tax administration, international organisations, and the private sector. The newly elected members bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the board, and ATAF is confident that they will make valuable contributions to the ATRN’s value proposition of fostering research excellence in tax policy, tax administration, tax legislation and thought leadership in Africa.

The ATRN was created by ATAF in 2015 to be a platform for African tax research while bridging the gap among the academia, policymakers and tax administrators. To date the ATRN has made tremendous impact in tax research on the continent and has heralded thought leadership on tax matters through its products and activities such as the
African Multidisciplinary Tax Journal (AMTJ), the
annual ATRN Congress, policy briefs, webinars and ATRN tax research methods training. 

During the onboarding meeting, the Board selected a bureau and formed three committees to ensure the smooth functioning and pursuit of the ATRN objectives. The following is the bureau of the ATRN Advisory Board:

Chairperson:
Professor Annet Oguttu, University of Pretoria

Vice Chairperson: Dr Mugambi Mwirigi, Kenya School of Revenue Administration (KESRA)

Secretary:
Ms Caroline Mutayabarwa, ATAF Manager: Head of Tax Academy

The Board also selected Chairpersons for three committees as follows:

1. Academic ethics and integrity – Prof Fanie van Zyl (Chairperson)

2. Capacity building and skills transfer – Prof Nicaise Mede (Chairperson)

3. Internationalisation: Collaborations and Partnerships – Dr Aida Opoku-Mensah (Chairperson)

The ATAF Secretariat is committed to working with the ATRN Board and committees in advancing the ATRN’s objectives to foster tax thought leadership in Africa. More information about the Board is available on the
ATAF website.