First ZANMOD training and launch event

As part of the SOUTHMOD project, the national team at Zanzibar Revenue Authority (ZRA) in collaboration with UNU-WIDER and Southern African Social Policy Research Insights (SASPRI) organizes the first training event on the ZANMOD model, along with the launch of the model. The workshop provides participants with comprehensive training to use the new tax-benefit microsimulation model designed for Zanzibar effectively.

The purpose of the training workshop is to provide an introduction to potential users of the ZANMOD simulation tool on its components, potential advantages and possible applications. The training will place particular emphasis on showing how the model can be used for policy analysis on topics related to taxation and social protection.

The training is targeted at 21 governmental officials.

The training starts with a launch of the ZANMOD model. The launch event includes presentations by UNU-WIDER and SASPRI, and national team introducing the model. The guest of honor representing the government is the Director of the Zanzibar e-government agency, Mr. Said Said.

About ZANMOD 

Tax-benefit microsimulation models — which combine representative household-level data on incomes and expenditures and detailed coding of tax and benefit legislation — have proven to be an extremely useful tool for policy makers and researchers. The models apply user-defined tax and benefit policy rules to microdata on individuals and households and calculate the effects of these rules on household income. The effects of different policy scenarios on poverty, inequality, and government revenues can be analysed and compared.

ZANMOD is a new model in the SOUTHMOD tax-benefit microsimulation model family. ZANMOD users can simulate hypothetical reforms of the tax-benefit system of Zanzibar. They can estimate, for example, the number of beneficiaries and analyse the characteristics of the prospective recipients of a benefit. ZANMOD also allows users to implement hypothetical income tax and social security reforms and calculate their effects on the government budget.

This workshop is part of the SOUTHMOD - simulating tax and benefit policies for development project. SOUTHMOD project is part of UNU-WIDER's research and capacity development programme on domestic revenue mobilization (DRM), funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).