Banjul, the Gambia | Under the auspices of the WCO-WACAM project financed by Sweden, members of the  Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) senior management and a delegation of WCO experts joined by a representative of the Regional Office for Capacity Building for West and Central Africa carried out a thorough assessment of GRA’s capacities in the area of strategic management. The mission, which took place on 3rd and 4th October 2017 at the premises of the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) in Banjul, gathered twenty Senior Managers (Directors, Deputy-Directors, Heads of Unit), including four women, actively involved in GRA’s reform and modernization efforts.

GRA senior management presented its Corporate Strategic Plan (2015-2019) and highlighted achievements, as well as challenges in the implementation and monitoring and evaluation of the set objectives.

The assessment was further completed through the use of material contained in the recently-developed WCO project management workshop material developed under the WCO-WACAM Project. The specific material used was the assessment form related to the organizational project management framework.

The results of the assessment indicated that while GRA has achieved a certain level of maturity in the area of strategic planning process, it was facing some challenges in the area of Project Management methodology, which could contribute to explaining the difficulties encountered by GRA with the implementation of key modernization programme.

Consequently, the GRA and the WCO were able to define a comprehensive roadmap to enhance GRA’s organizational project management capacities as well as strengthen its overall strategic Monitoring and Evaluation framework. The jointly-agreed activities shall contribute to significantly enhance the level of implementation of GRA’s Corporate Strategic Plan and hence have a positive impact on GRA’s overall organizational performance.

The representative of the WCO ROCB for WCA applauded the GRA and the WCO for the achievements of this activity and indicated that many Administrations in West and Central Africa were facing similar challenges than GRA. He was hopeful that GRA, with the WCO’s support, would be able to become a regional champion in the field of strategic management and that the ROCB would be happy to rely on their experience and expertise in the near future in the framework of its WCA Regional Coaching Programme.

The Commissioner-General of the Gambia Revenue Authority, Mr. Darboe, thanked the WCO for its continued support under the WCO-WACAM Project and urged his team to maximize from the foreseen support and confirmed his unwavering commitment to GRA’s modernization efforts: “The GRA board and myself will closely follow up on this project and ensure that the dedicated GRA officers to this project are given all the necessary support and time to ensure its success. Our vision is to be recognized as a leading Revenue Authority worldwide and we must, hence, embrace modernization and reform efforts”

For more information about this activity or about the WCO-WACAM Project, please contact Mr. Richard Chopra, WCO-Sweden Programme Director, Richard.Chopra@wcoomd.org