Monrovia, Liberia – Three members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), , have formally launched the System Interconnected Management of Goods in Transit (SIGMAT), an electronic customs system intended to facilitate and secure cross-border trade within the subregion. This is a major step toward enhancing regional trade integration between Guinea, Liberia, and Ivory Coast.
The formal launch, which took place in Monrovia on Friday, October 31, 2025, represents a significant turning point in ECOWAS’s continuous endeavors to improve economic cooperation and ease the free flow of commodities between its member nations. Under the direction of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and ECOWAS, the program seeks to promote transparency in trade operations and modernize customs procedures.
Through the electronic exchange of real-time customs data between member nations, the SIGMAT system empowers customs administrations to trace shipments, process declarations, and validate transactions. Transit times should be greatly shortened, the integrity and security of commodities in transit should be enhanced, and member state revenue should be protected owing to this innovation.
Speaking at the event, Saa Saamoi, Commissioner of Customs for the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), stated that the country’s dedication to regional integration, trade facilitation, and the digitization of customs is demonstrated by the adoption of SIGMAT in Liberia.
He stated that the cooperation of partners, such as the European Union, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the ECOWAS Commission, through GIZ, highlights the common goal of creating a safe, effective, and interconnected economic corridor throughout West Africa.
He also urged the business sector to restate its commitment to maintaining this pace and making sure the system fulfills its promises of dependability, efficiency, and openness.
For his part, General Dapier-Alphonse, Director General of the Ivory Coast Customs disclosed, “Since its launch in Abidjan on March 20, 2019, between the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, under the auspices of the Commission of the CEDEAO, the Interconnected Transit Merchandise Management System in Abidjan CIGMAT, adopted as a technical instrument for the implementation of the Interconnection of the Customs Administrations of the CEDEAO to respond to the challenges of the securitization of the transit of goods and the facilitation of exchanges between Member States, is spreading progressively to several corridors of the regional space.”
According to General Dapier-Alphonse, the CIGMAT information sharing will significantly boost cooperation and yield significant outcomes for the three CEDEAO Administrations in terms of optimizing customs receipts and combating fraud and multiform illicit trafficking.
The community’s commitment to moving resolutely toward the full operationalization of the new Community Transit Regime of the CEDEAO and the implementation of CIGMAT in accordance with the Additional Act on Community Transit of the CEDEAO adopted by the Conference of Heads of State and Government on December 12, 2021, was further cemented by the meeting of the Directors General of the Customs of both countries dedicated to the deployment of CIGMAT between the three countries, according to Moussa Camara, Director General, Guinea Customs Service.
Ambassador Josephine Nkrumah, the ECOWAS Resident in Liberia, praised SIGMAT as a very important tool, saying that it will actually bring about changes that can positively impact trade, promote trade integration, and increase access to markets, but that it is up to Member States to make sure the tool is put into practice.
“I want to urge us here that as we are looking at SIGMAT and looking to launch SIGMAT today, I want to add my voice to the many voices of people to urge our national stakeholders to disseminate and drive down sensitization around SIGMAT, around the ETLS, and ensure that trade thrives in our economies. No matter how many fine speeches we read and how many launches of great instruments we make, it is you and I that will make it work,” she added.
Reported by: Prince Saah
