In the framework of the West African Customs Administrations Modernization (WACAM) project, funded by Sweden, a regional workshop on Strategic Management was carried out from 23 to 27 November 2015 in Libreville, Gabon. The workshop benefitted 22 participants from 12 countries.
The workshop is a direct response to the request of WCO WCA Members to enhance their ability to better plan and manage their Customs Reform and Modernization Programmes. The workshop provided guidance on methodological aspects (step-by-step approach) and relevant tools (SWOT Analysis, Balanced Scorecard…) that could be used to formulate a strategic plan. Furthermore, the workshop covered elements more targeted towards creating the enabling environment to implement and review the progress of a strategic plan, namely results-based management, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms as well as change management. At the end of the workshop, the participants were able to review existing strategic plans and committed to organizing a working session with their national modernization committees to discuss how some of the elements presented during the workshop could be embedded in their existing strategic management processes.
The WCO informed the participating Member-Administrations that the WCO-WACAM project would be able to provide support at the national level to selected Member-Administrations following the receipt of a request for such support and based on demonstrated engagement to carry out such modernization efforts.
For more information, please contact the WCO - WACAM Project Manager, Mr. Richard Chopra (richard.chopra@wcoomd.org).