By: Haddy Touray
The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) participated in the 31st Conference of Director Generals of Customs of the Western and Central Africa Region (WCO-WCA), which concluded on Friday, 30th May 2025, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
The two-day conference, which ran from 29th to 30th May, brought together customs leaders from across the region to discuss key issues under the theme: “For a Customs Service that delivers on its commitments in terms of efficiency, security and prosperity.” The GRA delegation was led by Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Mr. Alhagie K. Mbye, who deputised for the Commissioner General, Mr. Yankuba Darboe.
Prior to the conference, the 30th Meeting of the Committee of Experts was held from 26th to 28th May. This session was chaired by Mr. Amadou Konate, Director General of Malian Customs and current Vice President of the WCO-WCA Region. Mr. Konate, alongside Mr. Bernard Kabese Musangu, Director General of Customs of the Democratic Republic of Congo, delivered opening statements urging participants to propose actionable recommendations aligned with the conference theme.
Key highlights of the Experts Meeting included presentations on the region’s activity report, policy issues, budgetary and financial matters, technical issues, and contributions from partners such as ECOWAS, IMPACCT, WEB FONTAINE, UNCTAD, Strategy Object, and HUAWEI.
At the end of their deliberations, the Committee of Experts presented a series of recommendations to the Director Generals. These included updating the Regional Strategic Plan 2023-2027, enhancing partnerships with development partners, finalising the budgetary and financial procedure manual, introducing digital transformation initiatives, strengthening capacity-building in emerging technologies, and enforcing rules for disbursement of regional funds.
During their closed session, the Director Generals adopted several recommendations, set future meeting dates, elected the Vice President of the WCO-WCA Region, and appointed regional representatives.
The conference concluded with the reading of the final communiqué and closing remarks from the WCO Secretary General, Vice President of the WCO-WCA Region, and the representative of the Minister of Finance of the DRC. Twenty out of 24 member countries were represented at the event.
