Veronique Herminie appointed on interim board of the African Women in Tax Network |25 March 2021

Veronique Herminie

The Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade has announced the appointment of the Commissioner General of the Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC), Veronique Herminie, on the interim board of the African Women in Tax Network (AWITN).

The board was launched by the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) in a virtual meeting on March 23, 2021.

Seychelles is a member of ATAF since January 2011, alongside 36 other African States.

Staff of the Seychelles Revenue Commission and that of the policy division of the ministry have benefitted from a number of capacity building programmes funded by ATAF. ATAF works towards “improving tax systems in Africa through exchanges, knowledge dissemination, capacity development and active contribution to the regional and global tax agenda”.

AWITN aims to empower women in the field of taxation so they can rise to leadership position and stimulate growth and discussion in gender inequality and taxation. The role of the board will be to manage and develop a sustainable framework for the work of the AWITN as well as guide its annual work programmes.

The board has 10 members with three from the ATAF member countries and the remaining members from academia, civil society, the private sector and the ATAF secretariat respectively. It expects to meet at least twice a year.

Minister Naadir Hassan has congratulated Mrs Herminie on this achievement. “This accomplishment will be beneficial for SRC and Seychelles, especially as we modernise SRC. I wish Mrs Herminie the best in this role.”

The network will work towards building a platform for women to share experiences and will introduce programmes such as mentorship, research and conduct workshops on key topics impacting on women on the African continent.It will be an association which will encourage the participation of African women working in taxation.

Mrs Herminie was a panelist at the launch of the AWITN, and in her intervention she stated that although she comes from a small country with equal opportunities for all, she appreciates the challenges faced by other revenue authorities in regards to gender imbalance and expressed the hope that the network will be:

• A mechanism of support for bringing like-minded peers, ambitious and passionate women together to influence tax policy change especially those affecting women; and sharing of knowledge and experience on topical tax issues;
• A sharing platform for good work practices, when it comes to women in employment, especially covering reconciliation of family and work life, flexible working arrangements, sexual harassment, marginalisation, discrimination and bullying;
• A training ground for career development workshops and capacity building with the potential of identifying future trainers and experts for ATAF as well as for the revenue authorities. By providing educative materials through the network, our women can educate themselves without absenting from their homes and families; and also
• A family of friends without borders to cultivate lifelong mentorship and friendship.

Mrs Herminie’s appointment on the interim board while expecting to be an enriching professional experience, is a great achievement for the Seychelles Revenue Commission and for Seychelles. For more information access www.womenintax.org or www.ataftax.org

Press release from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning & Trade