Innovations in Tax Compliance: Building Trust, Navigating Politics, and Tailoring Reform

Ed Olowo-Okere

Ed Olowo-Okere is aNigerian national with three decades of experience working on governance issues around the world, leads the World Bank’s Public Sector and Financial Management team in the Governance Global Practice. This group is focused on helping countries build capable, effective, accountable, transparent, and inclusive institutions that deliver citizen-centric services, facilitate private-sector growth, and build trust in Government. The group provides expertise on governance issues, ranging from public financial management, domestic resource mobilization, state-owned enterprises reform/ corporate governance, public institutions reform, decentralization/subnational governance to anti-corruption policies, fiduciary assurance, political economy analysis and GovTech (i.e. leveraging technology to modernize the public sector and improve service delivery to citizens and business, and increase efficiency, transparency and accountability). Mr. Olowo-Okere joined the World Bank in 1998 and has held various positions in operations, including Director of Governance overseeing Africa, MENA and ECA regions, Senior Advisor in the Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions practice group, and Director of the Core Operational Services Department in the Africa region. Before joining the Bank, Ed held public- and private-sector positions in Nigeria, Britain, and New Zealand. Ed holds a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honors) Degree in Accountancy from the University of Maiduguri and a Masters’ Degree in Accounting, with Distinctions, from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He has a Ph.D. in Management with a specialization in Change Management and Public Financial Management from the University of Bath, United Kingdom. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). He has researched and published in reputable international journals and lectured at undergraduate and graduate levels in Nigeria and New Zealand on accounting and finance.

Marcello Estevão

Marcello de Moura Estevão Filho is the Global Director of the World Bank Group’s Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Global Practice (MTI). In this position, Mr. Estevão leads a large team of country economists, macroeconomists, and fiscal policy, debt, and macro-modeling experts. He is responsible for overseeing the delivery of the global analytical work on macroeconomics, fiscal policy, and debt policy; for coordinating the strategic direction of MTI and implementing it; for helping to shape and oversee MTI’s country/regional programs; and for mobilizing staff to work more effectively across Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions (EFI) and other Global Practices. Before joining the Bank, Mr. Estevão was Deputy Minister for International Affairs at the Ministry of Finance in Brazil until end-December 2018 and served as Brazil’s G20 Deputy. He also served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the New Development Bank (Shanghai) and member of FUNCEF’s Board of Directors. Prior to this position, he worked at Tudor Investment Corporation as the chief-economist for North America and Oceania; at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as mission chief to Peru, Nicaragua and Barbados, and deputy chief of the Regional Studies Division, the North American Division, and the Latin-Caribbean Division, after working on several European countries and the Euro Area; and at the Research and Statistics Division of the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, DC, as a researcher and member of the Green Book forecast team. Mr. Estevão is Brazilian, holds a PhD in Economics from MIT, Cambridge, MA, and has published extensively in refereed journals, books, policy reports, and the print media.

Kalpana Kochhar

Kalpana Kochhar oversees an advisory group of economists and development finance experts who use economic analysis and perspectives to ensure that the foundation’s global policy and advocacy work is informed by strong economic and financial analysis and insights, resonant with emerging trends, and connected to key decision-makers. Before joining the foundation in 2021, Kalpana spent 33 years at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where her most recent position was as director of the Human Resources Department. She also served as deputy director of the Asia and Pacific Department, working on programs and issues related to India, China, Korea, Japan, and several other Asian countries, and in the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department, where she launched the IMF’s work on gender and women’s economic empowerment. From 2010 to 2012, she was seconded to the World Bank as its chief economist for the South Asia region. Kalpana’s research interests and publications have focused on emerging markets, including India and China; jobs and inclusive growth; gender and inequality issues; structural reforms; and regional integration in South Asia. She holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in economics from Brown University and an M.A. in economics from Delhi School of Economics in India. She has a B.A in economics from Madras University in India.

Anna Custers

Anna is an Economist in the Macroeconomics, Trade & Investment Global Practice. She focuses on fiscal policy in developing countries. In particular, on domestic resource mobilization, including both customs and tax reform, as well as the role of trust, morale, and equity in tax systems. Prior to joining the World Bank Anna worked with the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) in both India and France. She holds a PhD in Management Research from the University of Oxford and a MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.

Wilson Prichard

Wilson Prichard is an Associate Professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and the Department of Political Science, is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies and is the CEO of International Center for Tax and Development. He holds a Ph.D. and MPhil from the Institute of Development Studies, and a BA from Harvard University. His research is focused on the question of taxation and development, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa. How can states expand their ability to raise revenues equitably in order to finance services and redistribution? And what are the broader implications of expanded tax systems for state-building and accountability? He is the author of Taxation, Responsiveness, and Accountability: The Dynamics of Tax Bargaining in Sub-Saharan Africa (Cambridge University Press) and Taxing Africa (Zed Books, named a Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2019). His work has appeared in a wide range of academic journals, including the British Journal of Political Science, International Affairs, World Development, and the Journal of Development Studies, and he also writes and blogs broadly for policy audiences. He works closely with civil society organizations, national governments, regional organizations, and international agencies, including as research lead on the World Bank’s Innovations in Tax Compliance program, as the technical lead on a reform of the property tax system in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and as a member of the Advisory Board to the ‘BEPS and Mining’ program of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals, and Sustainable Development.

Irena Xhafa

Grace Wandera

Grace is an MBA qualified Strategic Management professional with extensive experience of delivering multimillion dollar initiatives to increase value, improve performance and enhance service delivery in Kenya’s private and public sectors. Currently the Deputy Commissioner Marketing & Communication at Kenya Revenue Authority, Grace has been described as one of Kenya’s bold women in government, and a truly transformational leader. Grace’s extensive skillset include the ability to challenge the status quo, forge partnerships between government and industry, manage brands and strategic marketing campaigns, and execute public policy initiatives. A people-centric leader, Grace empowers cross-functional teams, embedding a culture of collaboration. As a certified executive coach, she is committed to developing the leadership skills of executives and senior managers. Grace is also committed to leadership in community service. She is a proactive member of the Kenya National Treasury Audit Committee, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Kenya School of Revenue Administration. A thought leader and role model, Grace has won many prestigious awards in her career to date.

Chiara Bronchi

Chiara Bronchi is the Practice Manager for the Fiscal Policy and Sustainable Growth Unit in the Macroeconomics, Trade, and Investment Global Practice of the World Bank Group. She leads a group of macro-fiscal economists and tax experts who work on fiscal policy and sustainable growth. Chiara has over 25 years of professional experience in managing multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary programs gained in various international organizations. She started her professional career as Economic Adviser with the U.K. government, joined the OECD in 1998 as a Young Professional, and then the IMF in 2003. She served at the Head of the Fiscal Affairs Office of Kosovo under the UN Protectorate before joining the World Bank in 2008, where she has led lending operations, technical assistance, and knowledge products. In 2018-19 she was on external assignment as the Chief Thematic Officer of the ADB, where she provided vision and goals for the ADB thematic cluster and the ADB Strategy 2030. She has published on taxation and public spending. Most recently, she has co-authored an approach paper for the Conclave of Ministers of Finance on financing Human Capital Development. Chiara holds a doctorate in economics from Bologna University and a MSc in economics from University College of London.