Under the auspices of the WCO/JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Joint Project, the third Working Group activity (WG3) of the Master Trainers Program (MTP) on Risk Management (RM) and Intelligence Analysis (IA) was held in Cotonou, Benin from 3 to 7 February 2020. The opening ceremony was held in presence of his Excellency the Ambassador of Japan in Benin, the representative of the Minister of Economy and Finance and the Director General of Benin Customs and indirect Taxes. The Same group of candidates who participated in the previous two workshops got together again for this sub-regional activity to work on and make further progress towards the achievement of the objective of having a pool of trainers in the region under the MTP.  

This workshop is the third in a series of progressive activities undertaken by the six Revenue Authorities in West Africa, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo, to improve their capacity on the implementation of Risk Management and Intelligence Analysis (RM & IA).  The Master Trainer Program or MTP is a program that has been implemented under the WCO/JICA Joint Project to develop sustainable training capacity within the Customs administrations by developing 1) a pool of well-experienced trainers and (2) regionally-featured training materials and program to be used by these trainers. 

Building upon the first two activities, eighteen (18) Risk Management and Intelligence Analysis officials (to-be-trainers) started the development of training materials and model program to meet the specific national and regional training needs they identified during the first working group session (WG1).  Experts from the WCO, RILO WCA and Japan Customs facilitated various sessions and shared their valuable knowledge and expertise on Risk Management and Intelligence Analysis to improve the understanding of the participants on both, the theoretical and practical aspects in order to achieve the MTP objective.    

The participants demonstrated their commitment to the MTP and actively participated in working sessions and discussions during the five days of the workshop. Both WCO and JICA welcomed their commitment and positive approach to ensure long term sustainability of building capacity in the area of Risk Management and Intelligence functions within their organizations. The participants reaffirmed their continued support to the ongoing programme within the West Africa region to have a pool of master trainers to meet the objectives of intelligence driven risk management within their respective administrations.

During his closing remarks, the Director General of the Benin Customs and Indirect Taxes thanked all participants for their active contribution and thanked the WCO and JICA for contributing to the enhancement of the capacity building in the area of RM and Intelligence analysis for the West African countries.  

For more information contact capacitybuilding@wcoomd.org .