On 11 February 2019, new collective efforts among six Customs administrations in West Africa to create an “experts pool” on Intelligence Analysis were launched in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, with the objective of further enhancing Customs control, trade facilitation and revenue collection in West Africa through intelligence-driven risk management. Six countries in West Africa, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo participated in the program called “Master Trainer Program (MTP)” on Intelligence Analysis jointly supported by the WCO and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Directors General and/or others senior officials from the six Customs administrations as well as representatives from the WCO, JICA, Japan Customs, Regional Office for Capacity Building for West and Central Africa (ROCB WCA), UEMOA and ECOWAS got together for the launching ceremony of the MTP on Intelligence Analysis held in Abidjan on 11 February 2019 to commemorate the commencement of newly launched important initiative for West African Customs Administrations. During the launching ceremony, participating six Customs administrations expressed their utmost appreciation to the WCO and JICA for the new opportunity offered and reaffirmed their commitments to take ownership of the Program.
The Master Trainer Program or MTP is conducted under the auspices of the WCO/JICA Joint Project to develop sustainable and self-contained training capacity by 1) developing a pool of well-experienced trainers and (2) regionally featured training materials and program to be used by these trainers. To achieve that objective, a series of progressive activities will be undertaken by the six participating Customs administrations and jointly supported by the WCO and JICA. Upon completion of this MTP, successful alumni are expected to become a shared WCA regional asset and to deliver training on Intelligence Analysis not only in their respective administration but also for the Customs officials of the entire WCA region.
Immediately after the launching ceremony, eighteen nominated officials from the six Customs administrations commenced their work by participating in the kick off “WCO/JICA Joint Sub-regional Workshop on Intelligence Analysis for West Africa”. Both the WCO and JICA welcomed the strong ownership and commitment of the six countries and reaffirmed their continued support for the Customs administrations in West Africa to ensure more sustainable capacity development.