West, Central Africa: Cameroon Customs recommits to strengthen cooperation.

His message was delivered by the Head of the Division of International Cooperation and Taxation Bases, Samuel Désiré Kwedi, who presided the closing ceremony of the workshop.

The three-day confab in Yaounde ended Friday April 10.  The Customs DG in his message hailed participants for the exceptional quality of discussions, depth of analyses and the relevance of the resolutions arrived at. 

“With a keen sense of responsibility and remarkable commitment, you have risen to the expectations of our respective administrations and states by formulating sound guidelines for the future of the regional Information and Communication Technology strategy,” the DG said.

He emphasized that the digital transformation of Customs is an unavoidable strategic imperative for the efficiency, transparency and sovereignty of the administrations.

While expressing gratitude to the Vice Presidency of the WCO West and Central Africa Region and to the Local Organising Committee for the excellent organisation of the meeting, Fongod assured stakeholders of the commitment Cameroon Customs.

He also avowed the willingness of the Cameroon administration to place its experience, through the Cameroon Customs Information System, CAMCIS, at the service of sister administrations. 

“Regional customs solidarity is a valuable asset that we must nurture and expand,” he stated.

Modernisation challenges

During the three days of reflection, two main areas were identified as challenges of modernising region’s administration.  The issues officials said, included; data analysis and management, as well as the administrations’ adoption of disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and Big Data, which represent a major challenge but also historic opportunities.

“These two issues, which lie at the heart of the challenges facing our region’s modernisation, call for a coordinated, united and structured response from all members of our Working Group,” he noted.

Gratitude to partners

The Customs DG expressed gratitude to Customs technical partners, whose invaluable support and proven expertise, he added, have greatly enriched the meeting and their respective administrations. 

He cited the partners like HUAWEI, United Nations, UN Conference on Trade and Development, CAMPASS PLC, General Inspection Company (SGS), WEBB FONTAINE, amongst others.

“To all these strategic partners and many others, I make a solemn appeal for a strengthened commitment alongside our administrations to the establishment of a robust and coherent regional strategy for Information and Communication Technologies,” he said.

He further added that, the expertise of stakeholders and innovations “…are key assets in enabling the member administrations of our Region to combine, in a sustainable and efficient manner, technological performance and operational efficiency”.

The common interest of Customs actors in the region, he said, is “to build a modern, competitive African Customs service that meets the highest international standards”.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3760 of Tuesday April 14, 2026