With the support of the WCO Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme, the Gambia is advancing on its Coordinated Border Management (CBM) agenda, following a seven-week series of virtual workshops to develop an inter-agency standard framework followed by a two-week in-country capacity-building mission from 19 to 30 May 2025, including Data Standardization based on the WCO Data Model. Building on this, further CBM peer-to-peer exchange was facilitated between other Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme partner countries, namely Lesotho, Namibia, and Zambia, at the Programme’s National Focal Points Meeting in early June 2025.

CBM is a strategic and integrated approach to border management that aims to streamline and enhance security, trade, and the movement of goods and people, while minimizing administrative burdens. The Gambia has embraced CBM as a key component of its new border management strategy, recognizing the importance of collaboration between various agencies and stakeholders to achieve effective border controls and trade facilitation. The Commissioner General of the Gambia Revenue Agency (GRA), Mr. Yankuba Darboe, underlined that the Gambia's CBM approach is grounded in an integrated border management framework that brings together various government agencies, including the GRA, Immigration, Police, the Food Safety and Quality Authority, the Standards Bureau, the Plant Protection Services, and Health Services.  By working together, these agencies can address security threats, combat smuggling and trafficking, and facilitate legitimate trade and travel.

The output from the capacity-building activities includes the final draft of the Inter-Agency Standard Framework, which is now with the Gambia National Trade Facilitation Committee for finalization. Moreover, the border business processes were mapped for the participating border agencies, and over 85% of the respective data sets were compiled to support a Coordinated Information Flow (CIF). These outputs lay the foundation for the next steps in CBM and closer working relationships between border regulatory authorities.

The foundational activities undertaken as part of GRA’s multi-year partnership with the WCO Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme position the Gambia in a state of readiness as it moves forward with strengthening inter-agency cooperation on border issues, thereby boosting the Gambia’s national competitiveness and business-enabling environment.  The Programme looks forward to continuing its partnership with the GRA for sustainable Customs and border reforms.

Please see here for more information on the ‘Accelerate Trade Facilitation’ Programme.

For more information on WCO capacity building, please contact Capacity.Building@wcoomd.org.