The 32nd Conference of Directors General of Customs for West and Central Africa (WCO-WCA) has ended at the Freetown International Conference Centre in Sierra Leone.

The four-day conference, which ran from May 4 to May 8, brought together customs officials from 28 countries, including Ghana.

It aimed to promote a unified West and Central Africa—one that is smarter, safer and more open to legitimate trade, while strengthening efforts to curb revenue losses and dismantle transnational criminal networks.

The conference also focused on building the capacity of the over 150 participants to enable them to tackle revenue leakage and combat cross-border criminal activities.

Participants discussed the transformation of customs institutions from simple tax collection points into more sophisticated systems for protecting society.

Also in attendance was Ghana’s Commissioner of Customs, Mr Aaron Kanor, who said Ghana was making significant progress in fulfilling the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA)’s mandate of mobilising revenue through innovation and technology.

He said he was committed to improving the Authority beyond the level at which he met it.

Under the theme “A customs service that protects society through its vigilance and commitment,” participants also explored ways to strengthen border controls to prevent the influx of substandard goods, reduce tax evasion by unscrupulous businesses, and enhance revenue mobilisation for economic development.

More importantly, the officers discussed the adoption of electronic single-window systems to reduce bureaucratic delays, the use of advanced scanning technology and data analytics to identify high-risk cargo without disrupting legitimate trade, and the strengthening of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff to protect local industries and ensure a level playing field across the region.