Director Generals of Customs from the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Member States meet to discuss SIGMAT Deployment

On June 24 and 25, 2024, a meeting of Customs Directors General from member states of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo) was held in Lomé, Togo, to discuss the deployment of the Interconnected Transit Goods Management System (SIGMAT). Placed under the auspices of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme Task Force, this meeting is part of the implementation of the recommendations of the high-level ministerial meeting held in Cotonou from October 3 to 5, 2023, to explore ways and means of addressing obstacles to trade in goods on the said corridor.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the 5 corridor member states, members of the ETLS Task Force, and representatives of the ECOWAS Commission’s Customs Union and Taxation Directorate. In his welcome address, the Togolese Commissioner for Customs and Indirect Taxation, represented by Mr. Piguendelewe AKAYA, Director of Customs Operations, welcomed his colleagues and congratulated the Commission on having taken the initiative of inviting the Directors General of customs administrations on the Abidjan – Lagos Corridor (ALCO) to reflect on the automation of transit along the corridor.

On behalf of the Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Mrs. Massandjé LITSE-TOURE, Mr. Salifou TIEMTORE thanked the Togolese authorities and the Togolese Revenue Office (OTR) for hosting this meeting. He recalled the major role played by Togo in the regional integration process in general, and in transit trade in particular. He invited customs officials to courageously address the challenges that continue to hamper transit along the Abidjan-Lagos corridor.

In his opening address to the meeting, HE Dr. Mohammed Ibn CHAMBAS, Chairman of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) Task Force, noted that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was founded on the dual promise of free movement and economic integration, considered by its founding fathers as an essential lever for development, with a view to achieving a peaceful and prosperous region. That’s why, on behalf of the ETLS Task Force, he welcomed the SIGMAT initiative, which responds both to a concern for securing transit between member states, while also contributing to the mobilization of customs revenues essential to financing the development of our states. He reaffirmed the Task Force’s commitment to working alongside customs administrations for the full deployment of SIGMAT across the region.

At the end of 48 hours of frank discussions, the customs administrations resolved to connect to the SIGMAT e-hub by the end of September 2024, and to organize SIGMAT awareness-raising and training activities for their partners and administrations.

The participants also invited the ECOWAS Commission to take the necessary steps to get the other ECOWAS member states connected to the SIGMAT e-Hub by the end of September 2024, and to create a SIGMAT website to serve as a communication and information tool to ensure transparency in the operation of the transit solution.