WCO held the National Training for Nigeria’s National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF), on 12-16 June 2017 at the WCO Regional Training Centre for West and Central Africa, Abuja Nigeria. The event was co-organized with Nigerian Customs Service and supported by the Customs Cooperation Fund, Korea. It was attended by over 40 participants consisting of the Customs Administration, the Ministry of Trade, other government agencies and the the private sector. 

Nigeria’s Controller-General of Customs, Colonel, Hameed Ibrahim Ali, in his opening remarks, highlighted the progress of Nigeria’s NCTF and expressed his appreciation to the WCO in supporting the NCTF to enhance its sustainability efforts. He further encouraged participants to share the knowledge and experiences acquired from the training with other stakeholders of trade facilitation.

The training focused on stake holder and donor engagement in order to equip NCTF members to effectively manage interactions with stakeholders and to draft effective business cases for resource mobilization efforts.

The training was co-facilitated by the WCO’s Ms Hermie George, Technical Attaché, Compliance and Facilitation Directorate and Mr William Buku, Assistant Commissioner, Liberia Revenue Authority. This event was an opportunity for Mr Buku to obtain his full accreditation as a Mercator Programme Advisor.

During the closing of the event the participants expressed their appreciation to the WCO and reassured the facilitators that they are in a position to use the skills acquired to develop a structured approach to engagement with internal & external stakeholders, including donors.