By Omar Bah
The Gambia’s domestic resource mobilisation has been low compared to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa before the introduction of digital transformation at the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) by current Commissioner General Yankuba Darboe.
The digitalisation of tax administration has allowed GRA to improve efficiency since 2018. This end-of-year interview examines how the introduction of digital tools in the Gambian tax collection system is driving improvements in revenue collection, the challenges being faced, how a well-designed stakeholder engagement is helping address these challenges, and how international stakeholders can support similar reforms.
On the whole, digital technologies for tax collection triggered efficiency improvements in The Gambia through cost and timesavings. Staff familiarity with and competency in the use of these platforms is sometimes inadequate for many tax authorities but GRA has managed to surmount that challenge through a stakeholder dialogue.
The Authority has continued to record commendable progress with its digital transformation projects, which have helped the authority record an unprecedented D19.2 billion collection target in 2024. The launching of the ASYCUDA World system in 2022, the Single Window and recently the Digital Tax Stamp on excisable goods as part of GRA’s ongoing digitalisation process, has propelled the authority’s ability to collect more taxes and block most of the leakages in its systems. From the Digital Tax Stamp alone, the GRA has collected D100 million in 2024, compared to the D15 million collected in 2023, representing an increase of D85 million.
ASYCUDA World, an African Development Bank (AfDB) funded project was launched to boost revenue collection, improve procedures in customs administration, facilitate trade by shortening the turnaround time and clearance of goods, promote inter-agency, national, and regional cooperation and support the provisions of trade statistics for decision-making.
The outstanding performance of the GRA has been recognised throughout the world. Just recently, the Authority was recognised as the Most Outstanding Performing Institution in The Gambia by the Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GiEPA) and Senegal’s National Agency for the Promotion of Investments and Major Projects (APIX) during the Second Economic, Trade, and Investment Forum hosted in Banjul.
Yankuba Darboe is a seasoned Customs officer who rose through the ranks to become Commissioner General in 2014.
Prior to his appointment as the Commissioner General, Darboe served as Deputy Commissioner General & Head of Customs & Excise Department and Valuation Manager. He has also served in various positions in the then Customs & Excise Department.
He is also the current Chairperson of the West African Tax Administration Forum (WATAF) and a Council Member to African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF). Darboe spent his entire professional career in the pursuit of revenue mobilisation and has overseen significant reforms transforming the GRA into a revenue administration recognised for excellence in revenue mobilisation and service delivery.
In this exclusive, Commissioner General Darboe recounted how the introduction of digitalisation systems have been a blessing for his authority, especially in the areas of efficiency and effectiveness in customs clearance processes. Excerpts:
We have achieved a lot, but in summary, the most important thing that I would mentioned here are the reforms that we embarked on some time back, which are today bearing fruit. Notable among them is our programme with SICPA focusing on the excise tax that we introduced in the early part of this year on all excisable goods, including canned drinks, alcohol, drinking water, among others. When we introduced it, there was a big disapproval from the business community because the majority of them didn’t understand, but our objectives are to minimise the under-declaration that has been going on with those excisable goods and to reduce the smuggling of those goods coming through the borders; and more importantly to create more market avenues for the importers and all those who are involved in the production of these excisable goods. It was difficult at the beginning, but now they are all cooperating with us. This is why wherever you go throughout the country, you see the stamp on these excisable goods and because of that we are able to control the goods that come and go out of the country. By simply going through the stores and supermarkets, we can visibly trace the stamp on both imported and locally made excise goods. If you see any goods without the stamp, you know that they are the ones that are smuggled into the country, and when that happened, those who brought them can be identified and be arrested. Because of these initiatives, the volume of our imports has increased on those productions and that resulted in more revenue for us.
How much does this impact revenue collection?
In simple terms, it has increased revenue even in that tax line alone. We have realised that almost D100 million has been collected from the time we started in March to date compared to the D15 million we collect the whole of 2023, without the tax stamp. That is just under that tax line, and in summary, the introduction of these reforms has helped us to be able to reach the target that was set for us even before the end of the year. By the end of November, we have already collected our target, which is D19.2 billion. So, the whole of December will be excess collection. This tells you the importance of these reforms. At the beginning of the year, when the government announced that our target for 2024 will be D19.2 billion, many people said that was impossible for GRA to collect, but I am proud to say that we are able to collect that in 11 months instead of 12 months, and this is because of the reforms. That is why I don’t joke with these reforms because they are the future of this country. This country needs to rely on its domestic revenue mobilisation for sustainable growth. Therefore, in order to sustain that, we have to nurture the reforms so that they will be able to help us to increase the revenue collection, to reduce the leakages that are within the system. This is just the beginning of the game.
It is the end of the year, what is your message to members of your staff, taxpayers, partners and government?
First and foremost, I want to thank the government for giving us the opportunity to administer tax administration in this country and for giving us the necessary support because we cannot do anything without government support. We are a tax authority governed by laws, notwithstanding, whatever we are doing, we have to get the government buy-in. The government now has that understanding, and they are giving us the support in all these reforms that we are doing. So, I want to thank the government for that. To my staff, I want to say thank you for all your tremendous support and trust because I could not have done this job alone. It is happening thanks to the competent staff from my top management down to the board of directors. They have all given us their best. That is why we are able to achieve all these reforms and revenue performances, so I want to thank them very much for their foresight and unwavering commitment to duty, and team spirit. Finally, to the taxpayers, we are what we are because of them. Without the taxpayers, there will be no GRA, so we are all stakeholders, meaning their role is very important. I want to thank them sincerely for their continuous understanding and commitment to national development. And I want to say that nobody would like to part with their money, but taxpayers are prepared to do so because they know it is an obligation they owe to the country. They understood that it is those monies that the government will use to maintain stability, security, and peace and bring about the needed infrastructural development. The taxpayers are key to our work. We pray that Allah give them long life, good health, and prosperity because once that happens GRA will also stay and continue to collect more and more taxes for national development.
Thank you Commissioner General Darboe.
It’s my pleasure.
