The Congolese Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. Jean-Baptiste Ondaye, opened, on Tuesday December 12, 2023 in Brazzaville, the regional seminar of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), under the theme: “The modernization of procedures customs measures to achieve the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECAF)”.

For the Congolese Minister of Economy and Finance, “this seminar aims to achieve the objectives of the 2060 agenda of the African Union (AU). It represents a significant contribution to the ambitions of intensifying intra-African trade, the leitmotif of which remains the ZLECAF, which is this large single market for goods and services of around 1.2 billion people, for a Gross Domestic Product ( GDP) estimated at 2500 billion dollars.

He affirmed that “The Republic of Congo, like other African countries, has put in place the national strategy for implementing the ZLECAF. This strategy is structured around six axes, namely: the pursuit of macroeconomic reforms; the establishment of a regulatory and institutional system; diversification of the economy; infrastructure development; adaptation of public policies; finally, strategic monitoring and evaluation”.

Minister Jean-Baptiste Ondaye underlined “the fact that, to mark its attachment to the ZLECAF, Congo signed the Bilateral Agreement, with a view to the accelerated implementation of the Protocol on trade in goods, although not appearing not among the pilot States identified by the ZLECAF Secretariat.”

Today, the speaker underlined, “the tax mission still occupies the majority of customs activities. But, with the planned implementation of preferential tariffs and the ambition of African States to diversify their economies, Customs should increasingly fulfill new missions, in addition to its traditional missions.

Some sub-themes to address during the seminar

For three days, the seminarians will address, among other themes: "the modernization of the management and control of preferential origin: the essential role of Customs, the procedural, organizational and technological aspects, both in operation and in 'import''; “the elimination of non-tariff barriers relating to Customs, in intra-African trade: digitalized, harmonized customs procedures based on the exchange of data”; “specific issues, in particular the procedures facilitating access for Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the benefits of the Agreement, and the opportunity to formalize informal border trade”.

Note that the Brazzaville seminar was organized by the Public Finance Department of the IMF, in collaboration with AFRITAC-Central and with the financial support of the Japanese Government. It is part of a series of six regional workshops organized by the IMF, under the same theme, during 2023.

The Communication Unit of the Ministry of Economy and Finance