The WCO successfully organized a national data analytics workshop for the senior management of the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA). More than twenty-five senior executives, including the Commissioner-General, participated in the workshop, held from 9-12 May 2022 in Maseru. The mission was funded by the Customs Cooperation Fund of Korea and the Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme as financially supported by the United Kingdom’s Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The capacity building activity took place under the framework of the WCO’s BACUDA initiative – a collaborative research project between Customs and data scientists to develop data analytics methodologies.

Data Analytics is a key overarching priority for LRA, and the mission served to support LRA’s efforts to improve its Data Analytics capabilities. The Workshop followed up on the online engagement and assessment conducted in 2021, which included a remote assessment of LRA’s current data analytics capabilities in line with the Data Analytics Framework. The in-country mission now allowed for onsite validation and revision of the findings and the opportunity to inspect facilities. Following this, the WCO experts put forward recommendations that the LRA incorporated into an action plan to start embedding data analytics within the administration.

LRA participants were advised on a strategic level and a technical level on effectively driving data analytics forward. In this context, the mission team also benefitted from experts from the Korea Customs Service that shared various best practices on creating a data architecture system and, consequently, data analytics modules.

Having formulated a new Data Analytics strategy and an accompanying road map, the LRA now has a solid foundation to take the necessary steps to become a leading organization in applying data analytics and automatic compliance in line with LRA’s vision and international standards and best practices.

The WCO is looking forward to continuing its multi-year Mercator capacity building partnership with LRA under the HMRC “Accelerate Trade Facilitation” Programme – building on activities conducted in the past few years. Moreover, the BACUDA initiative is looking further to expand its data analytics support on a national level, providing strategic and technical assistance according to the Members’ needs.

For more information, please, see ‘Accelerate Trade Facilitation’ Programme here or contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.