09 October, 2023
Gambia Revenue Authority received Senior Course Students from Nigeria Customs on a Study Tour.
The Gambia Revenue Authority on Monday 2nd October received 17 Senior Course 9 Customs officers from Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College on a 5-day study tour to the Gambia Revenue Authority. The purpose of the visit was to, among other things, learn and assess the Gambia’s level of preparedness for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as well as other Customs procedures and best practices.
Delivering the welcoming remarks on behalf of the Commissioner General, the Deputy Commissioner General- Mr. Essa Jallow began by welcoming the Nigerian delegation to the Gambia and thanked them for choosing the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) for their benchmarking study. While assuring them of the availability of a pool of experienced staff to guide and share experiences with during the course of their stay, Mr Jallow remarked that the Gambia and Nigeria have shared a strong historical bond and therefore opting for the GRA for a study tour was a very good decision.
On his part, the Commissioner of Customs - Mr Alhagie K Mbye expressed delight for their visit and stated that their visit is a testament to the importance of fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing among the two Customs administrations.
The delegation benefitted from presentations by senior Customs officers on different topics including a brief history of the GRA and the organogram structure, general measures put in place to promote border risk management in collaboration with other stakeholders, and GRA’s level of preparedness on the implementation of AfCFTA, among others. The delegation also visited Customs facilities including the Seaport and Jiboroh Customs Border Post and later proceeded to the Senegalese border of Seleti. This gave them first-hand experience on how Gambia Customs interacts with stakeholders.
Delivering the closing remarks at the debriefing session, the Commissioner General of GRA- Mr Yankuba Darboe expressed his gratitude for the visit and urged the officers to implement some of the best practices learned during the study tour. He further stated that the decision to choose the Gambia for the study tour demonstrates the Authority’s remarkable successes in reforms and digitization and commended his staff for the excellent work.