Africa-Press – Gambia. The 2025 Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB) concluded recently in Abidjan, marking a significant milestone in Africa’s economic development discourse. The high-level event, held from May 26 to 30, convened policymakers, financiers, development experts, and tax administrators from across the continent and beyond.
The Gambian delegation was led by the Minister of Finance & Economic Affairs, Seedy Keita. It included the Permanent Secretary – Abdoulie Jallow, Governor of the Central Bank – Buah Saidy, First Deputy Governor – Dr Abdoulie Jallow and other Directors from the Ministry of Finance and CBG. The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA), delegation was led by Commissioner General Yankuba Darboe, accompanied by Deputy Commissioner General Essa Jallow and Director of Technical Services Yahya Manneh.
The GRA delegation played an active and strategic role throughout the event, contributing valuable insights on the intersection of technology and revenue mobilisation. A key highlight of their engagement was Commissioner General Darboe’s participation as a panelist in a high-profile knowledge-sharing session focused on “Harnessing Technology for Domestic Resource Mobilisation in Africa.”
During the session, Commissioner General Darboe shared The Gambia’s progressive journey in modernising its revenue administration. He detailed the successful transition of the ASYCUDA system from version 2.7 to ASYCUDA++, and subsequently to ASYCUDA World in 2022. This digital transformation, he noted, has led to significant improvements in international trade revenue and operational efficiency at key border posts and ports.
Darboe further outlined a suite of digital initiatives implemented by GRA, including:
. The National Single Window for streamlined trade documentation,
. E-tracking systems for transit cargoes,
. Digital weighbridges at the Banjul Seaport,
. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) systems for container processing,
. Digital tax stamps for excisable products, and
. A nationwide fuel marking system.
“These reforms have not only enhanced transparency and accountability, but also strengthened revenue collection and traceability across our international trade corridors,” Darboe said. He emphasised the critical need for strong political will, noting that such reforms often close long-standing loopholes and may face resistance from vested interests.
Commissioner General Darboe called on African governments to prioritise domestic resource mobilisation, warning that reliance on external aid is increasingly unsustainable in the face of donor fatigue. “Digitalisation of revenue systems in Africa is no longer optional—it is an economic imperative,” he stressed.
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