28 February 2024
UNCTAD’s ASYCUDA customs automation software helps the West African country boost its trade potential and collect record customs revenue in 2023.
The Gambia, mainland Africa’s smallest country, saw a 23% increase in customs revenue in 2023, one year after rolling out the latest version of UNCTAD’s Automated System for Customs Data software (ASYCUDAWorld).
The Gambia Revenue Authority reported record monthly revenue collections in March 2023, reaching 1.5 billion Gambian Dalasi (approximately $22.1 million, using the current exchange rate), a figure that was exceeded in July with D1.6 billion (about $23.6 million).
By the year’s end, customs revenue hit D15.6 billion (about $230 million), surpassing the government’s target for 2023 by 4%.
Announcing the results, Gambia Revenue Authority Commissioner General Yankuba Darboe, highlighted the impact of reforms and strategies to improve efficiency and transparency and optimize revenue collection, saying UNCTAD’s ASYCUDAWorld system’s contribution was “immense”.
"The immediate impact of the joint effort between UNCTAD and the Gambia Revenue Authority in financial terms is impressive,” said Shamika N. Sirimanne, UNCTAD’s director of technology and logistics.
Streamlining trade in The Gambia
The implementation of ASYCUDAWorld, part of broader efforts with UNCTAD to streamline customs processes and enhance trade facilitation, has been pivotal in modernizing the West African country’s customs operations. In 2022, around 80% of customs payments were made electronically. The country’s finance and economy minister, Seedy Keita, said the new customs automation software would “significantly enhance the ease and speed of doing business in The Gambia, which is essential for us to realize our dream of becoming a competitive and favourable destination for foreign direct investment”.The nation, with its narrow coastline opening to the Atlantic Ocean, relies heavily on trade, exporting mainly food items, including nuts and fish, along with agricultural raw materials like unprocessed cotton. It imports primarily other foodstuffs, fuel and machinery.