Lome, 31^st March 2017   . Desirous of improving the capacity of tax auditors, ECOWAS has successfully organized two out of the planned four train the trainers’ sessions in fiscal auditing.

The training sessions which held from the 20^th to 24^th and from 27^th to 31^st of March 2017 respectively in Lome, Togo were targeted specifically at engendering effective and efficient risk-based audit of Multinational Companies operating in the Oil and Gas as well as the Mining Sectors.

The workshops were opened by the ECOWAS Representative in Togo Mr. Garba Lompo with support of the Director of Customs, ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Salifou Tiemtore, as well as the Togolese Commissioner for General Revenue Authority.

The main objectives of the train-the-trainers workshops in the fiscal audit of specialized sectors are to assist participants understand and appreciate the peculiar operations of the specialized sectors and harness their technical audit skills, tools and techniques to undertake efficient and effective professional audits, in addition to maximizing domestic revenue and compensate for any revenue loss that may arise from the trade liberalization schemes and Partnership Agreements in the region.

ECOWAS developed a Fiscal Transition Programme with comprehensive reform strategies to support and strengthen the capacities of Tax Administrations in the Member States in anticipation of the dwindling revenues arising from trade facilitation and partnership Agreements in the region. The action was also meant to mobilize domestic revenue.

The workshops equipped the Tax Auditors with a deeper understanding of the operational dynamics (modus operandi, terminologies, tax planning schemes) in the Oil and Gas as well as the Mining sectors. The trainees also acquired additional skills set to conduct professional risk-based audits in these sectors using appropriate interview and audit techniques. Their report writing skills have also been sharpened to ensure seamless communication of audit findings to Management.

The train the trainers Workshop was organized by the ECOWAS Commission in collaboration with the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) under the “Promoting West African Trade Integration Programme (WATIP)” in fulfillment of the capacity development measure of the ECOWAS Fiscal Transition Programme (FTP).

A total of 52 Tax Auditors (31 percent of them, females) were trained from all the Francophone Member States and the two Lusophone Member States.

The remaining two (2) workshops billed for the 3^rd to 7^th and 24^th to 28^th of April respectively in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire will focus on the Finance, Insurance as well as Telecommunications Sectors.