The African Development Bank and the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation Fund are working together to strengthen customs services in five Sahel countries | African Development Bank

The African Development Bank, with the support of the Korean-Africa Fund for Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC), brought together 40 customs officials from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Chad for training to strengthen customs capacity. The training aims to modernize and reform the sector.

Countries in the African Sahel and other inland regions face several economic challenges: lack of direct access to seaports, inefficient infrastructure, transport and logistics costs accounting for up to 70% of production costs, all of which affect their performance in international markets.

For the African Development Bank, part of the solution lies in leveraging synergies, including regional integration, trade and transport facilitation. There is also a need for capacity building of government departments and agencies that oversee trade, such as customs.

Led by two independent customs experts, the training provided insight into strategic and risk management, which a modern customs administration must master to implement facilitation measures and international agreements such as the revised Kyoto Protocol (2006) or the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement). to perform (2013).

To give the training a practical aspect, the customs officers took part in a site visit organized with the Directorate General of Customs of Ivory Coast and the Autonomous Port of Abidjan. This provided the opportunity to exchange and share experiences with the Directorate of Economic Regimes and the port authorities.

Strengthening the capacity of customs officers is expected to promote regional integration, especially following the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Dorsaf Labidi, head of the African Development Bank’s Industrial Development, Trade and Investment Climate Department, stressed that the bank has supported and continues to support projects and programs for trade development and facilitation, as well as reforms to improve the business environment in African countries. , in addition to its continued support for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.