SITPRO Policy Development: Business Action for Improving Customs Administrations in Africa

The Origins of BAFICAA

Business Action for Africa for Improving Customs Administrations in Africa (BAFICAA) traces its origins to the launch of the Commission for Africa by Tony Blair in early 2004.

The aim of the Commission for Africa was to “take a fresh look at Africa’s past and present and the international community’s role in its development path”.
Businesses with interests in Africa came together to form Business Action for Africa (BAA), drawing initially on the organisations involved in the private sector consultation work stream for the Commission for Africa report
BAFICAA initially emerged out of this consultation process as the sub-group on customs.

BAFICAA does not have a formal organisational structure and instead works on a “light-touch” basis.
BAFICAA does not aim to create a new institution and aims to complement, not duplicate the work already underway within Africa.
BAFICAA does not have "members". It has interested companies which band together to identify solutions rather than just problems with customs administrations
BAFICAA is not a pressure group. The group is committed to finding ways in which the private sector can make a positive and proactive contribution to improvements in customs administrations in Africa.
BAFICAA is in essence a networking tool that allows businesses that agree with the BAFICAA guiding principles to come together.

The "members" of BAFICAA "sign up" to a few guiding principles that include but are not limited to:

The private sector must be the driver of change;
The private sector does not accept customs related bottlenecks as "the cost of doing business";
The private sector has an active and not passive role to play in customs improvements;
The private sector is ready to make practical contributions (not necessarily financial) to any improvements.

Building Dialogue and Trust : To encourage a cooperative dialogue between business and governments based on a relationship of trust
Make Real Improvements: To make real improvements in customs environments that would benefit the economy as a whole and not narrow business interests
Practical Proposals : To devise and implement joint, practical and real-world proposals that can help Africa improve customs procedures and help facilitate trade in a sustainable manner
Change Perceptions : To help governments realise that the private sector can be an active partner in improving the customs environment
Working in Partnership : To work with governments and donors in partnership to identify where the private sector can contribute to new and existing trade facilitation and customs reform programmes .

As a first step BAFICAA has produced a report, Customs and Business in Africa: A Better Way Forward (pdf 2.07MB ), that attempts to get an accurate up-to-date picture of business perceptions of customs administrations in Africa.

Three countries in the East African Community (Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda) have been chosen as the initial "pilot" region. The new members of the East African Community Rwanda and Burundi will be invited to join BAFICAA.
A series of workshops have tested the feasibility of the recommendations and national private sector taskforces have been established.
These taskforces have set up dialogues with their national customs administrations and a regional dialogue has been initiated through the East African Community Secretariat and the East African Business Council (EABC).
Six key project areas have been identified by the taskforces and customs administrations. The top priority identified by both the private sector and customs administrations is to set up national Authorised Trader Schemes.
A meeting with the Commissioners of customs is being scheduled for later in 2007 with an aim to produce an action plan for the implementation of national Authorised Trader Schemes with common standards across the region allowing for mutual recognition in the East African region.