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DATAFID 2
Project
Published on
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Project start date
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Status
Ongoing
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Project end date
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Financing amount (Euro)
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3m
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Country and region
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Benin, Senegal, Africa
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Funders
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Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty of France
The purpose of DATAFID 2 is to boost the capacities of tax and customs administrations in partner countries to mobilise their domestic resources via better use of data science.
Mobilising domestic resources for better fiscal sovereignty
Domestic revenues are the main source of development financing in West Africa, but they are lower than in other regions of the world. Given this situation, States are seeking to sustainably strengthen their domestic resource mobilisation capacities, a key lever for budgetary sovereignty.
Today, opportunities are appearing thanks to two major trends: the rapid growth of the digital economy and the growing availability of rich and diversified administrative data.
Following DATAFID 1, a new phase for tax and customs administrations
To address these concerns, the DATAFID 2 project was developed to support tax and customs administrations on domestic revenue mobilisation issues.
It is a follow-up project of DATAFID 1, which ran from 2021 to 2024 with the aim of promoting economic development and combating fraud in six partner countries (Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo).
Like the first phase, DATAFID 2 is financed by France’s General Directorate of the Treasury (DGT) via the French Strategic Investment Plan for Development (PISD). Expertise France is in charge of implementation in Benin and Senegal.
DATAFID 2: Exploiting the digital economy in partner administrations
The challenge of the DATAFID 2 project is to structure, deepen, and systematise the use of the digital economy and the growing availability of administrative data in order to maximise its impact for the benefit of partner administrations.
The objective of the project is to help improve the performance of tax and customs administrations and more specifically to:
- make the digital economy sector contribute more to domestic revenue mobilisation;
- strengthen the analysis capacities of tax and customs administrations.
Two action priorities
1. Support taxation in the digital economy
We support administrations in adapting their intervention frameworks to a rapidly changing sector. Support is provided mainly by:
- analysing regulatory frameworks;
- conducting impact studies;
- training and raising the awareness of administration personnel.
2. Bolstering the strategic use of data
Our actions seek to bolster the use of data to serve tax and customs purposes.
With DATAFID 2, we support partner administrations by:
- improving interoperability and data cross-referencing;
- developing operational use cases such as risk analysis, compliance, and management;
- training and supporting teams.
Partnerships at the heart of the project
Academic expertise
As part of the DATAFID 2 project, we are awarding two grants, in addition to other partnerships, to support targeted actions related to our objectives.
Cooperating with the academic world is a structuring choice to mobilise rigorous methods, make better use of the data produced by the administrations, produce analyses useful for public decision-making, and help upskill administrations.
A grant has been awarded to FERDI, through its training organisation, Institute for Advanced Studies in Sustainable Development (IHEDD). This collaboration seeks to build the skills of tax and customs officials in Benin and Senegal in the use of data science, and is mainly based on the implementation of qualifying training courses.
A grant has been awarded to the Paris School of Economics, in partnership with the International Tax Observatory led by Gabriel Zucman. This collaboration seeks to strengthen the capacities of tax and customs administrations in Benin and Senegal to make better use of the data they produce. Specifically, it is based on applied research on tax and customs micro-data, combined with support for administration personnel in analysing and utilising these data.
A partnership has been established with Université Rose Dieng France-Senegal in Dakar to implement a structured training offer in data science and artificial intelligence. This training, which is provided in person, remotely, or in hybrid form, targets people with various backgrounds, from specialists to managers.
The École nationale de statistique et d’économie appliquée d’Abidjan (National School of Statistics and Applied Economics of Abidjan) collaborates with FERDI in implementing certain training courses by providing its academic and technical expertise.
Institutional expertise
DATAFID 2 enables beneficiary administrations to capitalise on the experience of the institutions it cooperates with, so that they can improve their organisation methods, governance, and implementation of tools relating to data, information systems, and the fight against tax and customs fraud. This expertise is transmitted through:
- exchanges with African administrations and international organisations;
- sharing of experience with France’s Directorate-General of Public Finance and Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Duties;
- study visits and technical support.
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