15 November 2018
In October 2018, Zach Pouga, senior associate within Gide's Tax practice group in New York, was formally invited to join the ranks of International Senior Lawyers Project ("ISLP") volunteer experts. The Project's objective is to offer free legal support on a variety of topics to the governments and NGOs of developing countries, in particular in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
This November, Zach received a first opportunity to get involved by being invited to lead a specialised high-profile training session dispensed by ISLP in Kenya to the African Union Development Body (NEPAD), a regional organisation that includes several African countries as founding members (including South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria). The training session formed an integral part of the fourth Regional Dialogue on Contract Negotiation and Fiscal Policies in the Extractive Industries meeting, held in Nairobi from 5 to 7 November, and hosted representatives from Burundi, Kenya, Soudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda (EAC), Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Ethiopia, Guinea and Ghana.
The training session aims to foster dialogue on topics of taxation related to the mining industry, the importance of tax information transmission and transparency between countries.