There are quiet efforts currently underway in Africa by the private sector to improve the environment within which they operate. SITPRO has been working on the Business Action for Africa for Improving Customs Administrations in Africa (BAFICAA) project, which aims to identify, promote and support effective measures to improve customs administration and enhance trade facilitation in Africa.
BAFICAA was one of the groups of businesses formed in response to the Commission for Africa report in 2005 and one of its first deliverables was to produce a report that attempted to get an up-to-date picture of business perceptions of customs administrations in Africa. The report was revealing. It emerged that businesses were tired of being considered "the enemy". Customs authorities across Africa did not fully appreciate the private sector and, despite reforms and improvements, generally many front-line Customs officers were lacking a basic appreciation of business issues such as the impact of delays upon business. Respondents said that while higher-level officials were business friendly, this rarely translated to lower management levels. The general feeling was one of frustration that law-abiding, tax-compliant value-generating businesses were being treated with suspicion.
BAFICAA is a process by which law-abiding businesses can work with customs administrations and the wider government agencies to work out processes that would not penalise respectable businesses while increasing the flow of legitimate trade. The process is in its infancy. Efforts are underway in East Africa initially to explore the ideas that the private sector may have for affecting positive change in border procedures. A series of workshops will test the feasibility of the recommendations with a view to the creation of a taskforce to take them forward. While initially driven by SITPRO with Unilever, British American Tobacco and Diageo, BAFICAA is now primarily owned and driven in Africa by Africans. SITPRO will continue to provide inputs and technical expertise to the project as it progresses and grows.
Return to SITPRO News: Issue 59, Winter 2006/2007
