Technical mission to Ghana on the deployment of Système Interconnecté de Gestion des Marchandises en Transit (SIGMAT) between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire

From the 21st to 25th of July 2025, the ECOWAS Commission conducted a technical mission to Ghana as part of transit reforms aimed at ensuring the efficient cross-border movement of goods in the region. To this end, an IT solution called SIGMAT – “Système interconnecté de gestion des marchandises en transit” (Interconnected System for the Management of Goods in Transit) – was established to enable the electronic exchange of data between Member States.

Since the launch of SIGMAT in 2019, the Member States that have implemented this tool have reported its significant impact on transit procedures and the benefits it has brought to the countries.

It is in this context that ECOWAS Ministers from the Member States of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor (ALCO), meeting in Cotonou on the 5th of October 2023, requested the ECOWAS Commission to ensure the prompt deployment of SIGMAT in the five Member States of the corridor. This is to facilitate the smooth cross-border movement of goods along the corridor.

Consequently, the ECOWAS Commission carried out a technical mission to Ghana from 21st to 25th July 2025 to assess and address the interconnection challenges between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in order to ensure seamless SIGMAT connectivity along the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor. The mission brought together technical and functional experts from the Commission, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.

During a meeting with the Commissioner of Customs of Ghana, the Director of Customs Union and Taxation, Mr. Salifou TIEMTORE, on behalf of the ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Mrs. Massandjé TOURE-LITSE, reiterated the commitment of the ECOWAS Commission to support Member States in their efforts to ensure the deployment of SIGMAT on all trade corridors to facilitate the efficient movement of goods in the region.

For his part, the Commissioner of Customs of Ghana, Brigadier General Glover ASHONG ANNAN, expressed the Ghana Revenue Authority’s gratitude to the ECOWAS Commission for this timely intervention aimed at securing transit trade in the ECOWAS region and reducing transit-related fraud that threatens the revenues and security of Member States.

At the end of the mission, the technical and functional challenges hindering the proper functioning of transit between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana were resolved.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).