Under the auspices of the WCO/JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Joint Project, Six (6) West African Customs administrations have been making collective efforts in building a pool of experts and developing training materials to be used for more sustainable capacity building in West Africa.  Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo participated in the “Master Trainers Programme (MTP)” and are making continued efforts in building their training capacity on Risk Management (RM) and Intelligence Analysis (IA).   

The eighteen (18) participants took part in a “Fourth WCO/JICA Joint Workshop on Risk Management and Intelligence Analysis under the MTP” held virtually on 23-25 March 2021.  In this 4th workshop, building upon the steady progress made through a series of progressive activities conducted under the MTP, those participants finalized the regional RM and IA training materials they developed earlier paying due attention to the regional context and challenges they face in West Africa. Supported by the RM, IA and training facilitators from WCO, JICA, and Japan Customs, the participants made a considerable progress under the MTP to finalize their training materials.  In addition they sharpened their knowledge and expertise on RM and IA as well as training techniques to enhance their competencies as Master Trainers.  Despite COVID-19 pandemic, their enthusiasm to meet virtually was highly commended.  Through 3-days of this 4th workshop, the participants had intensive working sessions and completed the full set of training resources, including handbook, presentation materials, model training program and course guide. These training materials will be the first of its type for the six Customs Administrations, intended for building capacity in the area of RM and IA.

The participants are expected to meet again at the end of May of this year to complete the MTP, where they will be required to test their training skills, their knowledge of the technical domain and the relevance of the course materials through practical delivery of RM and IA training. For more information please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.