
The TaxCapDev network
Domestic revenue mobilisation (DRM) is crucial for a government’s ability to make investments that foster social and economic development and is an integral part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Taxation also plays a crucial role in state building by providing the resources needed to fund core state activities as well as constituting the foundation of a social contract between citizens and the state.
How to improve taxation and prevent illicit capital flows are questions of great importance as the answers can shape the policies needed to spur sustainable growth. If this is to happen, knowledge sharing, discussions, and interactions between different types of stakeholders are needed.
The purpose of the TaxCapDev network is to facilitate such interaction by bringing together researchers, policymakers and civil society working on issues related to taxation and capital flows in developing countries, with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.
Through the organisation of seminars, pod-casts and publishing condensed and accessible research briefs and blog posts, the network aims to facilitate discussions and exchange of experiences, with the goal of creating and sharing knowledge to strengthen DRM in developing countries and contribute to the shaping of new international research agendas.
Coordinating institutions and leadership

Recent publications
Fjeldstad & Therkildsen (2020) Implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for revenue generation in poor African countries. DIIS Working Paper - Implications of the Covid-19 pandemic - Pdf
The pandemic talks
The pandemic talks are the TaxCapDev-network's film series about the financial and tax consequences of COVID-19. Her you meet researchers from Norway and Africa.
Episode 1: Kenya
Episode 2: Nigeria
Episode 3: Senegal
The Norwegian magazine Bistandsaktuelt, covering aid and international development, wrote about The pandemic talks in january 2021: Read the Norwegian article here.
Contact information:
Research assistant for the SkattJakt/TaxCapDev network is Viljar Haavik.
News
-
Tax for Development Webinar Series Presenting the TaxCapDev-Network
4 Nov 2020Taxation is the key to state-building and the pathway out of fragility. An important theme forming the basis for the TaxCapDev-network. -
Did British colonial rule in Africa foster a legacy of corruption among local elites?
30 Oct 2020The empowerment of chiefs during colonial rule fostered a legacy of corruption more potent than the formal legal system left behind by the colonisers. -
Corruption in customs: Time for a new approach
15 Oct 2020Customs are often perceived as one of the most corrupt institutions in developing countries. Though difficult and complex, fighting corruption in customs is possible but requires... -
Tax for Development Webinar Series
14 Oct 2020A new webinar series featuring ongoing research and initiatives to strengthen domestic revenue mobilisation in developing countries, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. -
Africa, Tax and the Digital Economy
4 Sep 2020Are the giant tech companies paying their fair share of taxes? Challenges facing African countries in the digital economy. -
Tax and fragile states: Challenges for Norwegian development assistance
10 Sep 2019States need revenue to function and an efficient tax system plays an important role. Can Norwegian development assistance contribute to this? -
Taxation and tax reform in Africa
26 Apr 2019Lessons from and for Tanzania -
Information worth killing for
2 Apr 2019What is the role of investigative journalism in unveiling financial secrecy? -
Is taxation the new politics of development?
17 Dec 2018According to scholars in the field of development studies, taxation might be the missing piece to the puzzle of peace- and state-building. -
ANALYSIS: Kurdish State-building and the Struggle for Natural Resources in Iraq
11 Dec 2018What role do taxation and natural resource management have in Kurdish state-building? -
Transboundary collaboration on conservation and natural resources in East Africa
5 Dec 2018How can transboundary collaboration on conservation and the management of natural resources transform a zone of war into more peaceful coexistence? The case of Uganda-Rwanda-DR... -
Tax is the new gender issue
3 Jul 2018Increasing attention has been given to the way tax regimes affect women’s lives. Not only is capital flight now considered in a human rights perspective, taxation policies...- Ingrid Hjertaker
-
BOOK: Taxing Africa: Coercion, Reform and Development
9 May 2018New book on Taxation in Africa by Mick Moore (ICTD), Wilson Prichard (ICTD) and Odd-Helge Fjeldstad (CMI). -
The challenges of illicit economies and financial flows
2 May 2018– Illicit economies pitch the advantages of borderless transport, communications and financial flows against legal systems that remain bound by the confines of the Westphalian... -
REPORT: Building tax systems in fragile states
13 Apr 2018New report from the TaxCapDev network recommends nine entry points for Norwegian support to taxation in fragile states. -
Book launch: Perspectives on international taxation and capital flight from Africa
16 Mar 2018- How does the international tax system affect domestic revenue systems in Africa? New book from TaxCapDev Network launched in Norway -
New book: Perspectives on international taxation and capital flight from Africa
12 Oct 2017New book from the TaxCapDev-network. -
The challenge of taxation in African countries
18 Oct 2017Tax is the key to development, but African countries are facing several domestic as well as international challenges. What may be the solutions? This was the main question... -
Global tax justice at crossroads
8 Aug 2017In a world of Trump and Brexit – who makes international tax policy? -
How to stop illicit financial flows
26 May 2017Tax evasion and terror financing are among the issues that make up illicit financial flows. -
Expanding the Hunt on Tax Evasion
15 Mar 2017The TaxCapDev network is extending this spring. -
“Survival of the Richest”
21 Dec 2016New report evaluates Norway’s effort to curtail tax evasion: acceptable work in some areas, but completely fails in the field of tax treaties. – Norwegian tax treaties are... -
New Tax Haven in Nairobi?
13 Dec 2016Will the establishment of the new International Financial Centre in Nairobi (NIFC) be the key to the development of Kenya’s economy, or will it turn out to be just another... -
Developing countries are worlds net creditors
7 Dec 2016Developing countries have effectively served as net-creditors to the rest of the world with tax havens playing a major role in the flight of unrecorded capital, according... -
Lifting the Veil of Secrecy - Tax Havens and Developing countries
23 Nov 2016Tax havens and developing countries – How do we curtail the increasing illicit financial flow from developing countries and which consequences do we see? Leading researchers...
Publications
Projects
-
Research project
Systems of Tax Evasion and Laundering (STEAL)
2011 - 2015 (Completed)The project seeks to identify Global Wealth Chains that are the articulation of organized activities between individuals or international entities, developed countries, developing countries, and tax havens.
-
Research project
Follow the money: the role of cross-border networks in natural resource extraction, stolen assets recovery, and tax havens and the regulation of cr... (FOLLOW)
2014 - 2017 (Completed)The project will examine the formal and informal regulation of cross border flows of natural resource wealth, with a particular emphasis on the crossborder networks that are at the heart of much of the...