Over 15 to 17 October 2014, the contact points of 15 Customs administrations, the Vice Chair, the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB), the Regional Training Centres (RTC), the Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILOs), representatives of the Economic Community of Central African States and AFRITAC-Central Africa, and the WCO Regional Development Manager of the West and Central Africa region, met for their 5th meeting in Libreville, capital of Gabon.
This meeting, organized jointly by the ROCB and the Customs of Gabon enabled participants to take stock of the progress and the activities conducted in the region since the last meeting, which was held in Bissau (Guinea-Bissau) in October 2013.
Progress highlighted during the meeting included:
- Better control of the region’s Customs administrations under the Regional Strategic Plan 2013-2017;
- The process of self-assessment based on an annual roadmap;
- Accession to the Revised Kyoto Convention of Cameroon and Togo;
- Significant progress of the 'West Africa Customs Administration Modernization’ (WACAM) project funded by Sweden, which supports human resource development, resource mobilization and development of partnerships with stakeholders; and
- Delivery in Senegal of the first Columbus Phase 3 support mission in the region.
Contact points for capacity building from several West and Central Africa Customs Administrations made presentations on various topics. An insight into the agenda and discussion includes:
- Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire - initiatives related to partnerships with the private sector;
- Senegal - experiences on leadership;
- Benin - human resource management;
- Chad - initiatives as part of Customs Procedures (facilitation and trade security);
- Nigeria - their approach to Customs leadership and management development; and
- Gabon and Ghana - strategic Management.
The WCO, the regional structures and the contact points of the WCA Customs Administrations thank the Government and the Customs of Gabon for the warm hospitality and the excellent organization of this meeting.