Isaac Mbugua Gitone
Nairobi
Summary
An accomplished pro-sustainable development policy analyst with strong communication and interpersonal skills, adept in policy formulation and negotiation, with over fifteen (15) years of proven track record in the negotiation of international agreements at regional and international levels.
Overview
18
18
years of professional experience
Work History
Principal Economist
National Treasury of Kenya
Nairobi
08.2010 - Current
- I work at the Directorate of Budget, Fiscal and Economic Affairs. The Directorate is the Government’s think tank responsible for policy analysis on a wide range of issues including: fiscal and monetary policies, trade and investment policies, financial sector policies, economic policy across other sectors of the economy and private sector development issues.
- The Directorate is responsible for the preparation and monitoring of the national budget, the monitoring and analysis of macroeconomic performance, especially relating to fiscal and monetary policies, the analysis and formulation of other sector policies, the monitoring and development of local, regional, and international policies on international tax and investment agreements, the regulation of financial institutions, and the coordination of the development of regional economic policies.
Specific past and present roles include:
- Lead investment expert in the negotiation of the Investment Chapter in the Kenya-USA Free Trade Area Agreement (FTA). I prepared a position paper for use by the Kenyan Team.
- Lead Technical Expert for Kenya in the negotiation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Protocol on Investment.
- Researcher and a leading negotiator of International Investment Agreements for Kenya with Brazil, Hungary, Japan, Singapore, Mauritius, Barbados, Spain, the Arab Bank for African Development (BADEA), Qatar, United Arab Emirates and the OPEC Fund for International Development.
- Convenor of Kenya’s International Investment Agreements negotiating team.
- Program Manager for Kenya’s Regional Integration Implementation Program (RIIP) under COMESA, with support from the European Union.
- A member of the Kenyan delegation to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group III on reforming the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism.
- A member of the National Implementation Committee of the East African Community Common Market Protocol.
- Technical expert for the National Treasury in Trade and Investment Policy Organs meetings at the EAC, COMESA and African Union.
- A convenor of Kenya’s Negotiating Committee for the Agreements on the Avoidance of Double Taxation (DTA);
- Participated in the negotiation of DTAs with Japan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Spain, and Belgium.
- Facilitating the ratification process of international agreements.
- A member of the Business Regulatory Reform Unit (BRRU) is charged with the mandate of transforming the business environment in Kenya.
Consultancy Services.
Undertook a short-term consultancy work with the Columbia Center for Sustainable Investment (CCSI) in September 2021.
The consultancy was to support research, organization, and delivery of capacity-building programs, and advisory work related to CCSI’s support during negotiations of the Investment Protocol to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Specific Activities
- Analysis of developments in treaty drafting practice relevant to the negotiation of the investment protocol;
- Coordination of capacity-building workshops and discussions, virtual or in-person;
- Research on thematic issues, as agreed with CCSI.
- Preparation of written outputs and background materials;
Prepared Policy briefs/papers and reviews that included:
- Investor's obligations
- Dispute Prevention Mechanisms;
- Dispute Resolution Options; and
- Investment Facilitation.
Customer Experience Officer
Safaricom Limited
02.2008 - 08.2010
Planning and execution of Cutsomer experience events and activations;
Handling customer issues at the call center as pertaining to mobile money services. This includes:
- Capturing customer details into the company database;
- Rectification of wrongly registered accounts;
- Initiation and completion of transactions’ reversal requests;
- Customer education on general products and services.
Education
Master of Arts - Economics
University of Nairobi
Nairobi, Kenya12-2014
Bachelor of Arts - Economics
University of Nairobi
Nairobi, Kenya12-2007
Skills
- Computer application skills
- Data analysis
- Events organization and logistics management
- Communication skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Decision making
- Policy formulation
- Client and stakeholder engagement
- Policy analysis
- International Instruments Negotiation skills and strategies
- Report writing and presentation skills
Accomplishments
- A program manager for the Regional Integration and Implementation Program under COMESA, which was awarded a Public Service Excellence Award in 2018 by the Public Service Commission of Kenya
- Lead a team of both public and private technical experts in the development of a position paper for the negotiation of the AfCFTA Protocol on Investment
- Lead technical negotiator who developed a policy paper for use by Kenya in the negotiation of the Investment Chapter in the Kenya-US FTA
- Successfully lead an inter-agency team in the development of a forward looking, reform based International Investment Agreements and International Tax Agreements Policies and Treaty-Models for Kenya.
- A member of the regional committee that developed the East Africa Community Investment Policy and EAC Model Investment Treaty
- Led a team from the National Treasury in the development of web links for tax and investment treaties for the Treasury’s website
- Developed the first County Budget Review and Outlook Paper and County Fiscal Strategy Paper templates for use by the County Governments in Kenya
- Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee that successfully mobilized grant resources (Euros 11.2 million) as budget support from COMESA’s Regional Integration Support Mechanism (RISM).
- Conducted pilot Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIA) on proposed laws by Dairy Board of Kenya.
- Member of the Committee that prepared the National Trade Policy for Kenya
- Part of the doing business reforms team at the Ministry of Finance that saw Kenya recognized globally in business environment reforms by the World Bank.
Referees
- Alice Mwololo, Director of Planning, Financial and Sectoral Affairs Department, National Treasury, P.O. Box 30007-00200, Nairobi Phone no.+254722723979, mwololoalice@gmail.com
- Ms. Lise Johnson, Lawyer, Curtis, MalletPrevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, Phone no.+44 20 7710 9818 Email:ljohnson@curtis.com
- Suzy Nikiema, Director Investment, Economic Law and Policy Program, International Institute for Sustainable Development, phone no.+22676624060 Email:snikiema@iisd.org
Short Trainings and International Conferences attended
- One-month Senior Management Course offered by Kenya School of Government
- 6-weeks Course on Strategic Leadership Development Program by Kenya School of Government
- Two Executive Trainings on Investment Treaties and Arbitration for Government Officials by Columbia Center for Sustainable Investment at the University of Columbia, USA
- Participated in the Investment Treaties Negotiators Forum for developing countries organized by International Institute for Sustainable Development as a moderator or a panelist in Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria, Panama and Phillipines.
- A training in International Investment Agreements Regimes and COMESA Investment Area Agreement by COMESA Secretariat
- Two trainings on Economic Issues in Regional Integration by International Monetary Fund and East Afritac in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
- Training on the Maintenance and Administration of Tax Treaties conducted by International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation of the Netherlands
- A training in the Application and Negotiation of Tax Treaties conducted by the OECD and Malaysia Inland Tax Revenue Authority in Malaysia
- Certificate in Macroeconomic Management and Natural Resource Management by Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI) and IMF
- Certificate in challenges and opportunities for fiscal decentralization in Kenya courtesy of Duke University, USA
- Certificate in Project Analysis and Risk Management (PARM) by Duke University, USA
- Certificate in Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) courtesy of EU, UN and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), Nairobi, Kenya
- Certificate in econometric analysis of panel data from University of Pretoria, South Africa
- Certificate in GDP forecasting framework for Kenya by Macroeconomic and Financial Management of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI), Nairobi, Kenya
- Certificate in Private Capital Survey and Non-survey methods by Macroeconomic and Financial Management of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI), Lilongwe, Malawi
- Certificate in quantitative Methods and Analysis for Debt and Reserves Management by Macroeconomic and Financial Management of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI), Lilongwe, Malawi
- Certificate in Macroeconomic Diagnostics by International Monetary Fund, Grand Baie, Mauritius
Professional Achievement
Certified Public Accountant (Section Two)
Working Languages
English
Proficient (C2)
C2
Swahili
Proficient (C2)
C2
Timeline
Principal Economist
National Treasury of Kenya
08.2010 - Current
Customer Experience Officer
Safaricom Limited
02.2008 - 08.2010
Master of Arts - Economics
University of Nairobi
Bachelor of Arts - Economics
University of Nairobi