20/05/2023
WCO Regional Training Centre for West and Central African Region Conducts Workshop on Data Collection, Analytics
The World Customs Organization Regional Training Centre for West and Central African Region with its Headquarters in Abuja has flagged off a 3-day regional workshop on Data Collection and Analytics for its members in Nigeria's Capital, Abuja.
The event which took place from Monday 16th to 19th May 2023 was attended by over 40 Customs officials representing different Customs Administrations from the region.
The Project beneficiary countries are Burkina Faso, Tchad, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Cote D'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea Bissau, Gabon, Gambia, Mali, Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, Republic of Benin, Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea and Togo.
Declaring the workshop opened, Vice Chair WCO West and Central African Region who doubles as the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) CFR, described the capacity building as timely, stressing that the training will reshape NCS' determination of addressing the challenges in the globalization of trade and business, international terrorism and organized crimes amongst others.
He said that the Nigeria Customs Service has made tremendous achievements in the area of accessing and collecting data from trade, which if utilized properly, will enable the Service to meet its target.
“There is a demand for the evolution of Customs' roles to meet challenges such as globalization of business and trade, international terrorism and organized crimes amongst others. Operationally, we can access and collect large amounts of data from trade, which if effectively utilized, will give us an opportunity to meet our modern expectations of achieving proper data analytics, that will help Customs' administration in terms of evidence-based decision making.” Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) said.
According to him, the Nigeria Customs Service has made giant strides through trade facilitation, improving compliance, better allocation of resources and many other activities, “these strengthen our ability to deliver on our core functions as both revenue generation, trade facilitation and advancing the security status of the Nigerians.” He added.
“Therefore, every Customs administration must make a concerted effort to enhance its process of collecting data and analytic process. This is what empowered the Nigeria Customs Service in collaborating with the World Customs Organization for the band of data analysts, the BACUDA project.” CGC Hameed Ali said.
The Comptroller-General who revealed how his administration succeeded in establishing a data fusion unit to liberate the benefit of data collection and analytics, also commended the regional training centre for organizing the two-day capacity building on Data Collection and Analytics.
He also urged the participants to use the opportunity as means of changing the narrative in terms of data collection and analytics at their workplaces.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Assistant Comptroller, Kenneth Olowo thanked the WCO for its efforts to deliver the workshop on this important topic and urged the participating Members to pay attention to the deliberations - and motivate themselves to explore the potential of the data analytics.
AC Kenneth said that the Capacity Building was aimed at sharing new ideas on further steps to share information on Data Analytics technologies, emphasizing that data collection and analytics remain the major priorities for the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd).
He also urged them to actively participate in discussions, which according to him, will ultimately make the workshop a successful one.
“The workshop is one of the criteria for the West and Central African region, and we are focusing on data collection and analytics - because it is an area that World Customs Organization is so interested in. We expect our participants to be trained on how data are being gathered and analyzed.” AC Kenneth said.
According to him, venturing into data analytics will go a long way in promoting the economic status of the country, “and is in line with the Nigeria Customs Service's topmost policies of collecting data in the area of revenue, enforcement, accounts, system auditing and PAAR ruling centre.” He added.
He said, “Therefore training our officers in the area of data management and analytics will surely help in boosting the economy of the country because Nigeria Customs Service helps in planning the economic policies for the Nigerian Government by issuing accurate statistics to the authorities.”
Addressing the participants virtually, the Director of Capacity Building World Customs Organization, Taeil Kang, welcomed and encouraged participants to promote and share information on Data Analytics technologies.
He emphasized his intentions to continue supporting members of the WCO whenever they deemed it necessary to hold capacity-building activities in the region.
Some of the participants who shared their opinion on the ongoing workshop expressed optimism that the capacity building will enhance capacity in data collection and analytics.
https://news.ncbn.ng/wco-regional-training-centre-for-west-and-central-african-region-conducts-workshop-on-data-collection-analytics
World Customs Organization - Organisation Mondiale des Douanes
