The UN/CEFACT Forum—a meeting of experts from around the world working within the global remit of the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) - held its 18th meeting in Geneva from 19 to 23 September. This was the first UN/CEFACT Forum to be organized under the new streamlined project-oriented structure, aimed at timely delivery of recommendations and standards focused on stakeholder needs. Participants included business and technology experts from 30 UN Member States, international organizations and other stakeholders. While more than 80 experts participated in the Geneva working sessions, additional experts located around the globe also contributed through teleconferencing. The Forum reviewed all 60 current projects and aligned them with new, simplified procedures within the UN/CEFACT cross-sectoral Programme Development Areas (PDAs). These cover business processes both for governments and for the private sector which can promote growth in international trade and related services. The Forum also addressed maintenance issues concerning most of UN/CEFACT’s widely used products, such as UN/EDIFACT.

On the sidelines of the Forum, concept paper of Worldwide Alliance for Global Paperless Trade has been presented by ASEAL and African Alliance for e-Commerce (AAEC) to members of Trade and Transport facilitation on September, 22. All members confirmed their interest to this initiative.

The 6^th ASEAL Summit was staged on 6^th June 2011 at Le Meridien President Hotel in Dakar. Under the co-chairmanship of ASEAL and AAEC Chairmen, the Summit was a platform of exchanges on the main challenges and the technical, organizational and legal requirements for paperless trade.

The proceedings also touched on the latest trends in terms of trade facilitation, paperless and cross border trade. Pursuant to the recommendations of the 5^th Summit held in Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia, the Dakar Summit examined the possibility of establishing a Worldwide Alliance for Paperless Trade.

The senegalese Customs Administration has, for the last decade, resolutely followed an economic mission by developing a capacity of monitoring and assistance to enterprises. The first symposium staged in 2007 enabled the different stakeholders to identify the hitches encountered by the private sector in its relations with customs and to propose solutions at stepping up corporate competitiveness.  The 2^nd symposium was held on 5-6^th November 2009 at the Meridien President Hotel in Dakar on the theme: “Customs-Private Sector Partnership: towards granting personalised privileges to enterprises.”  The opening ceremony was presided over by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, in the presence of the Director General of Senegalese Customs, his French counterpart, senior representatives of Malian customs, the private sector and the employers’ association. GAINDE 2000 sponsored this event as part of its paperless trade project, the expected results of which are:

• Improving the cross border trade environment;
• Contributing to the creation of world class business environment to boost competitiveness and the national economy;
• Promoting exportations; 
• Stepping  up enterprises’ competitiveness;
• Promoting the Senegalese experience in the sub region;
• Ensuring interoperability between the Senegalese systems and platforms operated at regional and international level;
• Stepping  up the effectiveness of regional and international trade;
• ...

This 2^nd symposium marks a new stage in the partnership process linking the Senegalese customs and the private sector and heavily recommended the granting of personalised privileges likely to help meet the expectations and concerns of each enterprise. The closing ceremony was chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Senegalese Ministry of Budget.

GAINDE 2000 has bagged the prize for “Best transfer and e-payment Company” in the WAEMU space. The prize was handed over during the WAEMU show on New Technologies held at the International Conference Centre of Bamako last 21-23^rd October 2009.  WAEMU NET.COM seeks to gather in one platform the most diversified and most comprehensive ICT offer and propose to development stakeholders an exhaustive range of services, solutions and expertise, as well as the keys to decipher a sector in constant evolution.

After Niamey (Niger) and Bamako (Mali), the third edition will be held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

The paperless trade project was launched on 4-5^th July 2009 at Hotel Les Bougainvillées in Saly, 80 km south of Dakar.

Meant to help automate and dematerialize the entire trade chain in Senegal, the Project will, at a later stage, disseminate the Senegalese experience in the West African region, with the view to sensitizing all stakeholders on the benefits of electronic trade for the business circles in terms of the reduction of the processing time and costs. Advantages of the paperless concept also include the improvement of productivity and competitiveness.

The expected results is to stimulate the appropriation of the concept by West African countries and their commitment to developing e-business through electronic Single Windows, ensure interoperability of their systems with platforms operated at the regional and international level, and step up the effectiveness of regional and international trade.

On this occasion, GAINDE 2000 staged a residential seminar grouping all stakeholders involved in trade and partners:

1. Users of the ORBUS System: importers, exporters, clearing agents;
2. Customs and stakeholders of the clearing chain;
3. E-payment stakeholders: Treasury, Banks, Central Bank (BCEAO) and users;
4. Port stakeholders: CAP Dakar (Community of Port Stakeholders), shipping agents, handling services, transporters, logistics actors;
5. Dakar Port Authority;
6. Trade facilitation partners: APIX, CPI, CSV 24/24, ASEPEX, BCEAO, COSEC, ADIE ;
7. Private sector: USETTA, CNP, CNES, MDES, UNACOIS, CCIAD, SATS ;
8. Quality control bodies: DITP, DPV, DSV, DEF, DCQ, DM ;
9. International partners: TNL (UK), CFAO (France), CONEX (France), France E-Commerce (France) ;
10. Work groups of the Phase I dealing with Finance, Insurance, Certificates of Origin, Quality Control and Standards, COTECNA/Customs/Users.

Below were the targeted objectives:

· Sensitize the parties on the stakes of the Project Phase II;

· Define the optimal processes at reaching paperless trade through the analysis of the following issues:

1. Pre clearance;

2. Clearance;

3. Goods release operations;

4. Non customs inspections.

Result:

• Project objectives and stakes shared out among participants;
• Project scope defined;
• Realization-related constraints and risks identified;
• Stakeholders’ needs and constraints identified;
• Roadmap for the execution of the project objectives drafted.

For the record, GAINDE 2000 has secured support from the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF) to carry out this ambitious project.

The modernisation of customs operations processing tools is a major concern of the Senegalese customs administration. In line with this dynamic, GAINDE 2000 has secured support from the Investment Climate Facility (ICF) to roll out a project for the complete automation of foreign trade procedures.

To ensure the proper management of the project, the Customs Commissioner General set up on 7^th May 2009 the Steering Committee, which is the body empowered to validate project-related decisions and monitor the milestones thereof. The Steering Committee convenes on the first Thursday of every month. 

Following are the main Steering Committee members:

• Customs Commissioner General who assures the co chairmanship;
• The Managing Director of the Dakar Port Authority  who assures the co chairmanship;
• The Chairman of the Community of Port Stakeholders who assures the vice chairmanship;
• GAINDE 2000 Managing Director as Project Director;
• The Permanent Technical Committee of GAINDE 2000 ;
• The Chairman of USETTA (Senegalese Union of Clearing and Transport Agencies) ;
• The Chairman of SATS (Union of Senegalese Facilitating Agencies) ;
• The Chairman of CNP (National Council of Employers) ;
• The Chairman of CNES (National Confederation of Employers) ;
• The Chairman of MDES (Association of Senegalese Enterprises) ;
• The National Union of Chambers of Commerce;
• The Managing Director of COSEC (Senegalese Council of Shipping Agents) ;
• UNACOIS JAPPOO (National Union of Traders and Industrialists of Senegal) ;
• The stakeholders involved in Phase I of the project (Foreign Trade Department,  Department of Maritime Fisheries, Phytosanitary Division, Quality Control Department, Monetary and Credit Department, Metrology Department, Banks, COTECNA, Department of Veterinarian Services, Forestry Department, Insurance Companies )

Ahead of the launching of the trade automation project, GAINDE 2000 organised a seminar at “Les Bougainvilliers” Hotel in Saly from 10th to 12th April 2009. This seminar provided the occasion for discussions among all stakeholders involved in the ICF Project Phase 2 on the key objectives that are:

1. Interoperability;
2. Integration of the applications GAINDE/ORBUS/CORUS;
3. Integration of logistic services.

These objectives fit into the framework of global exchanges and the facilitation and standardisation of customs procedures with the view to reducing the import/export processing time by integrating all stakeholders concerned. Two workshops were held to ponder over the set objectives, each of them reflecting on proposals and suggestions on the following themes:

The position of Africa’s top reformer for the "Cross-border trade" indicator in the Doing Business Report 2009 has been obtained thanks to the combined efforts of port stakeholders, public administrative bodies and the private stakeholders concerned.

These results must egg all the stakeholders concerned on to mobilise themselves to step up and consolidate the gains, and further the « Cross-border trade » indicator.

To this end, a seminar of port stakeholders was held on 8th April, around the following objectives:

• Sensitize the public and private stakeholders on the importance of the Doing Business, and shed light on its methodology with the view to stepping up the country’s performances as to the “Cross-border trade” indicator for the upcoming ranking of the Doing Business Report;
• Validate or amend the proposals of the TOP TEN AFRICA 2010 action plan for the “Cross-border trade” indicator;
• Assess the progress realised for each proposal of the action plan and set the next stages successively : (i) by May 2009 ; (ii) for Doing Business 2011 ;
• Set the responsibilities of each structure;
• Establish a dynamic of continuous improvement of the « Cross-border trade » environment.

Senegal, United Kingdom and Malaysia have signed in Dakar, on the occasion of the International Conference on Single Windows (November 2008) a Memorandum of Understanding on cross-border paperless trade. The three countries were represented by GAINDE 2000, SITPRO & TNL and DagangNet respectively.

GAINDE 2000 has held a meeting with its partners ahead of the implementation of a paperless trade project between Africa, Europe and Asia through electronic exchanges of documents required in cross-border trade.

This meeting provided the opportunity to:

• define the scope of the project(choice of the documents to exchange …);
• agree on a technology for the electronic exchange of data;
• prepare the launching seminar scheduled in Dakar in May 2009;
• ...

The Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Climate Facility in Africa (ICF) held a press conference on 18th March 2009 at GAINDE 2000, at the end of a visit by the ICF Board of trustees.

During the exchanges with the press, Omari ISSA laid emphasis on:

• The role of his institution in Africa ;
• The great strides made by the project initiated with GAINDE 2000 as part of the upgrade of Senegal’s electronic Single Window and which has yielded among other results: the improvement of ORBUS processes and the acquisition of new hardware and software; the rise in the number of users and public and private stakeholders; a reduction by 20 percent of ORBUS processing time, going from 2 days to 7 hours;
• The launching of Phase II of the “Outsourcing Project” aimed at the reduction of costs and time of trade transactions, with the main stakeholders including the Port, Customs and GAINDE 2000.

The « Outsourcing Project » seeks to contribute to the dissemination of the Senegalese experience in the West African sub-region, with the view to sensitising stakeholders on the gains of e-business for the business community in terms of reduction of costs and time, but also in terms of productivity and competitiveness. The expected result is to stimulate the appropriation of the Single Window concept by West African countries and their commitment to develop e-business through the establishment of Single Windows, assure interoperability of the systems with platforms operated at the regional and international level, and step up the effectiveness of regional and international trade.

Set up in 2006 to help streamline the investment climate with the view to fostering economic growth in Africa, ICF collaborates with African governments to promote an environment conducive for prosperous business on the continent, by systematically focussing on domains in which some practical measures can be undertaken to eliminate the identified constraints and problems. ICF brings its contribution to the efforts at removing the obstacles impeding the development of business in Africa, with a stress on the paramount importance of a sound investment climate for Africa’s economic growth.