ECOWAS builds capacity of Sierra Leone customs officers on the implementation of the Rules Of Origin (ROO) of the ETLS and the AFCFTA
28 Aug, 2025The ECOWAS Commission has trained Customs Officers of the Customs and Excise Department (CED) with the National revenue Authority (NRA) of Sierra Leone on the Rules of Origin of both the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization scheme (ETLS) and the African Continental Free Trade area (AfCFTA) on the 27th to 29th of August, 2025 in Freetown. Through the training of trainers, ECOWAS Commission intended to equip the Sierra Leone Customs Officers to implement the ETLS and the AfCFTA Rules of Origin (RoO) efficiently.
The Sierra Leone Customs and Excise Department (CED) will ensure that, following the ToT workshop, the trained Customs Officers will conduct further training within the CED on ETLS and AfCFTA Rules of Origin as well as national awareness workshops for customs brokers, freight forwarders and commercial and industrial enterprises on ETLS and AfCFTA Rules of Origin.
Welcoming the participants to the training Workshop, Mr. Raphael Victor Frerking, GIZ Country Director, stated that GIZ remains steadfast in its partnership – with ECOWAS, AU institutions, and the Government of Sierra Leone to ensure AfCFTA transitions from promise to practice. Together, GIZ stands at the threshold of a renewed African trading landscape one in which Rules of Origin are not just administered but leveraged to drive inclusive, transformative growth.
From his side, Mr. Emilio Rossetti, Chargé d’affaires at the European Union Delegation, indicated that EU strongly believes that Customs Administrations play a central role in applying and interpreting trading rules. The success of the AfCFTA depends greatly on the knowledge and capacity of Customs Authorities across Africa. He highlighted the various supports given to the ECOWAS Commission and the Member States, including Sierra Leone, to work diligently to make the necessary adjustments to fully operationalize trade in goods under the AfCFTA. Mr. Rossetti insisted particularly on the funding of the Harmonized System (HS) Africa Programme, a multi-stakeholder initiative implemented by the World Customs Organization (WCO).
At his turn, Mr. Johannes Rainer Florian Behrens, Head of Cooperation, of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, affirmed that Germany has stood firmly in support of the homegrown African initiative, an agreement led by Africans, for Africa. Through the Programme Support to the AfCFTA, commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperatrion and Development, co-financed by the European Union and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Germany has provided sustained technical support to the African Union Commission, the AfCFTA Secretariat, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and AU Member States to negotiate and implement the AfCFTA Agreement. The aim is clear, to link continental, regional, and national efforts in support of effective AfCFTA implementation.
Mr. Behrens ensured that Germany remains committed to supporting the ECOWAS Commission and its Member States, including Sierra Leone, through advisory services, technical assistance, and capacity building, ensuring that the AfCFTA becomes a driver of integration, competitiveness, and shared prosperity.
Opening the training workshop, the Resident Representative of ECOWAS to Sierra Leone, H.E John Azumah, stated that the free movement of persons and goods, the right of residence and establishment remains central priorities of the region. Indeed, the new ECOWAS strategic framework made the free movement of persons and goods one of the four pillars, namely the strengthening of integration. He recalled that in alignment with the AfCFTA, ECOWAS reviewed and adopted revised Rules of Origin in 2018 to ensure coherence between the two frameworks.
H.E John Azumah indicated that the current training Workshop is part of the execution of the roadmap for the implementation of the AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Goods by the ECOWAS Customs Administrations adopted by the Director Generals of Customs under the auspices of the ECOWAS Commission. He urged the Customs Officers to take full advantage of the training sessions to deepen their knowledge of the Rules of Origin for both the ETLS and the AfCFTA. Before declaring the training session opened, he reiterated that the ECOWAS Commission stands ready to continue supporting Sierra Leone in fostering regional integration and fully implementing both ECOWAS and AfCFTA instruments.