ECOWAS: Customs Directors General Meet in Lomé to Discuss SIGMAT Deployment on Abidjan-Lagos Corridor

Economic governance

Tuesday, 25 June 2024 16:29

ECOWAS: Customs Directors General Meet in Lomé to Discuss SIGMAT Deployment on Abidjan-Lagos Corridor

(Togo First) - Lomé has been hosting a meeting of the subregion's customs directors general since Monday, June 24, 2024, to discuss the deployment of the Interconnected System for the Management of Goods in Transit (SIGMAT) on the Abidjan-Lagos corridor. The work, which is part of the activities of the ECOWAS commission, aims to "discuss the deployment of SIGMAT in member countries," explained Piguendéléwè Akaya, Director of Customs Operations at Lomé-Port, representing the head of the OTR, at the opening of the executives' meeting on June 25.

SIGMAT is a tool that enables the exchange of data and the electronic tracking of goods in transit between the customs administrations of the member states of the West African sub-region, with the effect of reducing the time it takes to pass through the various customs posts on the corridor where it is in force. "The exchange of information through SIGMAT will ultimately promote the securing of goods and merchandise, the fight against fraud, the control of tax and customs revenues, as well as the reliability of statistical data in member states," adds the official.

Mohamed Ibn Chambas, representative of the ECOWAS Commission and its Operational Commission on the Trade Liberalization Scheme, states that "the present meeting should enable us to identify the last administrative and technical obstacles to the deployment of the segments and to provide ideal solutions as soon as possible."

The ECOWAS Commission decided to adopt the transit goods management system since its adoption in Abidjan in 2019, as a standard for implementing these systems. Since then, it has been progressively operationalized in countries such as Togo, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, and Niger.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

REFORMS OVERVIEW

STARTING A BUSINESS (more info)

At the fifteenth position, worldwide, and first in Africa, under the Starting a Business index of the 2020 Doing Business ranking, Togo sustains its reformative dynamics with more reforms….

ENFORCING CONTRACTS (more info)

Compared to some years ago when it was one of the lowest rankers under the Doing Business’ Enforcing Contracts indicator, Togo, leveraging many efforts to improve its business climate, was able to jump significantly on the index in the recent years... .

CONTRACT EXECUTION (more info)

Creation of special chambers of commerce for small debts • Creation of chambers of commerce at the Court of Appeal • Civil and commercial cases now handled by distinct clerks • Establishment of commercial courts in Lomé and Kara • Lawyers and bailiffs now have access to the FORSETI COMMERCIAL platform • A maximum period of 100 days was fixed to settle a commercial dispute .

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In comparison to previous years,Togo has significantly improved its ranking under the“Trading across borders” indicator by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

In comparison to previous years, Togo has significantly improved its ranking on the “Trading across borders” index by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitalization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

CONSTRUCTION PERMIT (more info)

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Out of all the 'Doing Business’ indicators, Property Registration is where Togo has improved the most since 2018. Indeed, after spending years in the lowest part of this ranking, the country now seeks to beat Rwanda which is the best performer on this index in Africa. To do so, Lomé has been introducing many reforms, with the latest batch implemented this year.

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (more info)

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