Strategic planning mission for the Brazzaville Regional Training Centre

The Brazzaville Regional Training Centre (RTC), inaugurated on 12 March 2011 by the Secretary General of the WCO, Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, was awaiting strategic guidance to fulfill its mission with respect to the region’s training needs.

To bridge this gap and to take account of the Brazzaville RTC’s new functions within the region, the Regional Office for Capacity Building for West and Central Africa (ROCB-WCA) embarked on a working mission with the RTC’s managers, held from 9 to 11 November 2011 with technical assistance from the WCO Secretariat.

The mission was financed by the Netherlands Government’s Customs Co-operation Fund and was led by Mr. Souleymane SANGARE, Director of the ROCB-WCA, and Mr. Alfred
ZRAE BI, WCO Technical Attaché to the said structure.

The key objectives of this mission were to:

· Assess the status of the Brazzaville RTC

· Define its mission and vision

· Develop its 2012-2014 Strategic Plan

· Impart the methodology for drawing up an Action Plan.

The mission was held on Brazzaville RTC premises, currently housed in the National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM) in Brazzaville.

The work was carried out with the Director of the RTC, Mr.André ETOUA,his Deputy and five non-permanent trainers in attendance.

The status assessment highlighted that work infrastructures are somewhat limited, especially for activities involving over 30 participants as was noted during the recent workshops held by the WCO in the Centre.

With the assistance of the two experts from the ROCB-WCA, the Brazzaville RTC was able to endow itself with a Vision and Mission Declaration as well as a draft Strategic Plan.

The Strategic Plan for the RTC Brazzaville encompasses the four key roles assigned to all the WCO RTCs, namely:

· the development of relevant training at the regional level;

· the management of pools of specialized trainers;

· the provision of specialized training at the regional level;

· the development of and support for the WCO’s blended learning programme.

In respect of these new regional missions, the Brazzaville RTC also decided to take another two priority activities on board:

1. The provision of regional expertise in the specific area of Procedures and Facilitation, and;

2. The structural and operational development of the Brazzaville RTC.

These last two activities cover six priority areas focused on within the Brazzaville RTC Strategic Plan.

This draft Plan will be submitted for adoption to the next Meeting of Directors General of the region scheduled for March 2012 in Cotonou (Benin).

The mission closed with a summary report presented to the Director General of Customs of the Republic of the Congo during a defbriefing session.

During this session, senior officials from Republic of the Congo Customs informed the ROCB that the country’s highest authorities had given assurances that an RTC would be built and operational in 2013. This was confirmed by a senior official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.