Page 95 - University of Pretoria RESEARCH REVIEW 2018

Property tax –
a much-needed revenue source for African cities
Riël Franzsen, Department of Economics, African Tax Institute, and SARChI Chair in Tax Policy and Governance
Managing urban areas has become one of the most important development challenges of the 21st century. It is estimated that by 2050, urbanisation in Africa will grow to
55%. With the high rates of urbanisation experienced in many African cities, there is
an immense and growing demand for infrastructure and services. In this context, the recurrent tax on immovable property is eminently suitable for city governments.
The work of Professor Riël Franzsen and researchers at the African Tax Institute (ATI) on property taxes is therefore both timely and relevant.
Although the ATI’s research on property taxes is still largely focused on improving property tax policy on the African continent (and beyond), improving tax administration has
also become an integral part of the research agenda. Furthermore, the research focus has shifted from metropolitan and capital cities
to smaller, secondary cities – as evidenced by work undertaken in Arusha (Tanzania), Kiambu (Kenya), as well as Kitwe and Ndola (Zambia). This research links up with the property tax research initiated by the International Centre for Tax and Development, Sussex University.
In 2018, Professor Riël Franzsen and Dr William McCluskey, co-editors
of Property Tax in Africa – Status, Challenges, and Prospects (2017, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy) were invited to present the key findings at the World Bank’s annual conference on land and poverty, and also at
the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund. They
also co-authored an International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) working paper on the role
of information and communication technology in enhancing property tax revenue in Africa, with a former ATI research fellow Dr Mundia Kabinga, and MPhil student Chabala Kasese.
The property tax administrative reforms in Kampala, Uganda, are discussed in an ATI working paper (one of seven working papers on property taxation published in 2018) by Mihaly Kopanyi and Riël Franzsen.
The ATI has since 2015 partnered with the Vienna University (WU) of Economics and Business (Austria) and
the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in a research project on tax and good governance in Africa. This project has explored the vexing problem of illicit financial flows from Africa and how revenue authorities can collaborate to counter this problem, both within countries and across country boundaries. One of the outcomes of this project was a scholarly book titled, Inter-agency Cooperation and Good Tax Governance in Africa (PULP, 2018), edited by Jeffrey Owens, Rick McDonell, Riël Franzsen and Jude Amos.
Riël Franzsen and William McCluskey are the recipients of the 2018 UP Vice-Chancellor’s book award.
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