In support of its broader Customs Capacity Building agenda, the WCO in partnership with the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) organized a Leadership and Management Development (LMD) Workshop in Mangochi, Malawi, from March 10 to 21, 2014 for 20 senior managers of the authority. The overall objective of the two week interactive workshop was to strengthen senior management capacities to lead and drive reforms within MRA’s Customs modernization agenda.

The workshop brought together a diverse group of senior managers from MRA’s Customs, domestic tax and corporate services divisions. Throughout the workshop many of the current and future challenges of the MRA were discussed, related to a wide range of topics such as visioning, strategic management, negotiations, people management, communications and change management. The workshop also established new foundations for stronger teamwork and co-operation between senior managers of the different divisions of the MRA.

For many of the participants the workshop turned out to be not only insightful and practical on organizational level, but a real first step towards a positive change in their individual leadership and management approaches, especially in the areas of self awareness, personal leadership and influencing others.

Both the Commissioner General of MRA, Mr. John S. Biziwick, as well as the Commissioner of Customs, Mrs. Agnes Katsonga Phiri, expressed the importance of ongoing Leadership and Management Development for MRA. Further development of Leadership skills and attitude being one of the four pillars of MRA’s key project "Business Turnaround".

The event was funded with the generous support of the World Bank’s Trade Facilitation Facility and the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. For more information on the WCO Leadership and Management Development Programme, please contact Capacity.Building@wcoomd.org.