Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

In 2007 the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (Lincoln Institute), based in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States and the African Tax Institute (ATI), located in the Department of Economics at the University of Pretoria, South Africa embarked on a comprehensive property tax research project on the African continent. The primary objectives of this project are the following:

• To develop a comprehensive template to collect data regarding all forms of property taxation in Africa that could be updated and maintained with relative ease;
• To report and reflect in a concise, uniform and comparable manner on property-related taxes levied and collected in Africa;
• To report on property tax systems as legislated in African countries;
• To reflect on property tax systems as practised in African countries;
• To establish the importance and extent of annual property taxes as sources of national and/or municipal revenue in Africa;
• To establish the importance and extent of property transfer taxes as sources of national and/or municipal revenue in Africa;
• To comment on the future role of property taxation in Africa; and
• To discern general trends in the application of property taxation throughout Africa.

To achieve these objectives, the Lincoln Institute and the ATI are interested to collaborate with research fellows from various countries on the African continent. From 2007 to 2011 a total of 13 research fellows have been selected to research property taxation in a total of 48 African countries.

The project manager of this joint venture project is Professor Riël Franzsen, Director of the ATI.

2010 Property Taxation in Africa Fellowship Workshop

From 3 to 5 December 2010 the ATI and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy co-hosted the Property Taxation in Africa Fellowship Workshop at Mont Fleur, Stellenbosch, South Africa. The following 10 research fellows were invited to present their research on selected countries and all 10 accepted the invitation and participated in the workshop:

• 2007 fellows: Samuel Jibao (Sierra Leone), Jean-Jacques Nzewanga (DRC), Vasco Nhabinde (Mozambique)
• 2008 fellows: Nara Monkam (Cameroon), Bernard Tayoh (Cameroon), Alemayehu Negash Soressa (Ethiopia)
• 2009 fellows: Khaled Amin (Egypt), Washington Olima (Kennya), Mundia Kabinga (Zambia)
• 2010 fellow: Berhane Tecle (Eritrea)

Their papers, which covered two country studies each, were reviewed by nine commentators who are all international property tax experts.

The following staff and Board of Directors members from the Lincoln Institute attended and participated in the workshop:

• Dr Gregory Ingram – CEO and President
• Dr Alberto Harth – Board Member
• Ms Joan Youngman – Senior Fellow and Chair: Valuation & Taxation
• Ms Semida Munteanu – Research and Management Coordinator
• Prof Roy Bahl – Board Member (but also participated as commentator)
• Prof Kenneth Pang – Board Member (but also participated as commentator)

Speakers and Chairpersons

The fellowship workshop was a huge success. All 10 fellows presented comprehensive country studies (comprising 18 country studies in total) and the 9 commentators contributed useful comments to improve the reports.

All 10 fellows received all of the presentations and comprehensive comments from all 9 commentators. This should have enabled them to update the reports presented as well as the other country reports not presented at the workshop.

The primary outcomes of this workshop included the –

• Improvement of the overall standard and comprehensiveness of country reports
• Gathering of further in-country and regional data
• Identification of possible co-authors for the proposed book Property Taxation in Africa – Status and Challenges, which – apart from the country reports and templates on the Lincoln Institute web page – is one of the overall outcomes of the joint venture between the ATI and the Lincoln Institute.

History of the ATI/Lincoln Institute Joint Venture

In an article Mapping Property Taxes in Africa in Land Lines (Volume 21, Number 3) Riël Franzsen and Joan Youngman of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy provide an overview on the current status of this project.

To find out more about the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, click here.