Victor Steenbergen
Victor Steenbergen is a former Country Economist for IGC Rwanda.
He is a development economist with experience in quantitative analysis of public policy and the political economy of policy reform, particularly related to public financial management and education systems. Prior to working for the IGC, Victor worked as an Overseas Development Institute Fellow in the budget unit of the Ministry of Education in Malawi. He also worked as an Education Finance consultant for Oxford Policy Management, based in Nigeria. Victor holds a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) focused on International Development from the London School of Economics, and a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Durham University. His research interests include public financial management, tax policy and social policy financing.
Content by Victor Steenbergen
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Project
Investor performance and tax incentives
The focus to attract additional private-sector investment, both domestic and foreign, has long been a key priority for the Government of Rwanda, and a critical policy focus for economic development. This has commonly taken the shape of targeted support for priority sectors, such as manufacturing, agro-processing and ICT, and has occurred, in part, through prioritised...
16 Aug 2019 | Erik Von Uexkull, Victor Steenbergen
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Publication - Policy Brief
The potential of backward linkages in Rwanda: A data-driven approach to supplier development programmes
17 Dec 2018 | Victor Steenbergen, John Spray
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Publication - Project Report
Estimating value added in Rwanda’s domestic trade
15 Nov 2018 | Ewoud Nijhof, Victor Steenbergen, John Spray
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Project
Responding to the US threat to remove AGOA preferences - Rwanda
The second-hand clothing ban in the East African Community (EAC) is a policy whose proposed goal is to spur the development of the local EAC apparel industry. The U.S. Administration, under President Donald Trump, has threatened to remove trade preferences that are provided to EAC countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) if they do not reverse the...
29 Oct 2018 | Garth Frazer, Victor Steenbergen, Ritwika Sen
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Project
Responding to the US threat to remove AGOA preferences - Uganda
The second-hand clothing ban in the East African Community (EAC) is a policy whose proposed goal is to spur the development of the local EAC apparel industry. The U.S. Administration, under President Donald Trump, has threatened to remove trade preferences that are provided to EAC countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) if they do not reverse the...
23 Aug 2018 | Garth Frazer, Victor Steenbergen, Ritwika Sen
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Publication - Policy Brief
Uganda: Responding to the US threat to remove AGOA preferences
The second-hand clothing ban in the East African Community (EAC) is a policy aimed at spurring the development of the local EAC apparel industry. However, the US government has threatened to remove trade preferences that are provided to EAC countries if they do not reverse the tariff increases on second-hand clothing imports. Kenya decided to unilaterally revert to...
23 Aug 2018 | Garth Frazer, Victor Steenbergen
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Publication - Policy Brief
Rwanda: Responding to the US threat to remove AGOA preferences
The second-hand clothing ban in the East African Community (EAC) is a policy aimed at spurring the development of the local EAC apparel industry. However, the US government has threatened to remove trade preferences that are provided to EAC countries if they do not reverse the tariff increases on second-hand clothing imports. Kenya decided to unilaterally revert to...
23 Aug 2018 | Garth Frazer, Victor Steenbergen
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Blog post
Identifying realistic export opportunities for Rwanda
Using an innovative approach called the ‘Decision Support Model’ (DSM), a mapping of Rwanda’s export potentials has been produced, revealing its most promising export products, accompanied by an overview of markets that currently demand such goods.
1 Dec 2017 | Martin Cameron, Wilma Viviers, Victor Steenbergen
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Publication - Working Paper
Analysing the impact of the Kigali Special Economic Zone on firm behaviour
6 Oct 2017 | Victor Steenbergen, Beata Smarzynska Javorcik
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Project
Analysing the impact of the Kigali Special Economic Zone on firm behaviour
Analysis of the impact of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) on economic performance remains limited. The Rwandan government requested an assessment of the Kigali SEZ’s effectiveness on firm behaviour. The study shows SEZs should be viewed as growth catalysts rather than small, separate pockets of economic activity. The study’s recommendations were integrated in...
6 Oct 2017 | Victor Steenbergen, Beata Smarzynska Javorcik
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Project
Reaping the benefits of Electronic Billing Machines
Electronic Billing Machines (EBMs) enable revenue authorities to monitor formal business transactions and thus offer the potential to improve VAT compliance. However, because firms can choose not to issue receipts or issue false receipts, EBMs do not offer truly objective tax reporting and have thus offered limited benefits to tax collection. Using examples from Rwanda,...
13 Sep 2017 | Victor Steenbergen
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Publication - Working Paper
Reaping the benefits of Electronic Billing Machines: Using data-driven tools to improve VAT compliance
13 Sep 2017 | Victor Steenbergen
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Publication - Policy note
Made in Rwanda: Establishing a publicly available supplier database for Rwanda
13 Sep 2017 | John Spray, Victor Steenbergen
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Publication - Policy note
Establishing a Local Content Unit for Rwanda
13 Sep 2017 | Victor Steenbergen, John Sutton
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Project
Improving supplier development linkages in the ‘Made in Rwanda’ policy: The potential of a Local Content Unit and a Firm Database
The Government of Rwanda has recently drafted a “Made in Rwanda” (MiR) Policy. This seeks to improve the overall trade balance by improving perceptions of Rwandan products within Rwanda, promote nascent industries, and boost productivity of exporting sectors (MINEACOM, 2017). Improving linkages between domestic suppliers and large exporting firms is a critical...
13 Sep 2017 | Victor Steenbergen, John Sutton, John Spray