On Friday 24th February 2023 at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs’ premises, Hon. Seedy K.M. Keita signed the Digital Excise Tax Stamps with SICAP [Société Industrielle et Commerciale de Produits Alimentaires) meaning Industrial and Commercial Food Products Company: name no longer used but the acronyms maintained as the name for the company] primarily for the Gambia Revenue Authority. The ceremony was attended by the Permanent Secretary, Mod A.K. Secka, Commissioner General of GRA, Yankuba Darboe, and staff, and the Director of Public Private Partnership of the Ministry of Finance and the Media. In his statement Hon. Seedy Keita said this ceremony marks a new milestone in the country’s race towards an efficient and cost-effective domestic resource mobilization strategy through digitalization.
He noted that the need for digitalization of national processes ranging from public administration to revenue mobilization which forms the lifeblood of any government cannot be over-emphasized. He added that it is in this direction that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs in partnership with strategic stakeholders such as GRA, PURA, GPPA, MOTRIE, and GPA embark on a journey to introduce an excise tax stamp solution.
Outlining the benefits of the Solutions, Hon. Keita said it will touch all actors of the Economy: producers, consumers, and policy making. According to him, it will help producers to monitor their market share as it serves as a major deterrent to smuggling and dumping of substandard products thus encouraging fair competition. For consumers, it will ensure quality assurance as all products consumed within the country will be tested for quality and validated through a digital tax stamp. For the government, the solution will help reduce the smuggling of substandard products as well as combat tax evasion. It will further inform the government on the size of the economy through improved data quality for policy-making and planning to enhance the visibility of economic activities in both the service industry (telecommunications) and in the manufacturing industry.
On public health, the solution will help ensure the authentication of products and deter the influx of fake and unhealthy products in the country, as consumers, with the help of a QR scanner will be able to authenticate that the products imported have genuinely passed through all safety protocols and paid all the relevant taxes to the state. http://mofea.gm
The Minister reiterated that the solution provides increased visibility for tax administration which will enhance revenue performance to fund critical government priorities and improve data quality to guide policy reforms.
Finally, Hon. Keita assured SICPA, that the government is committed to digitalization and will therefore leave “no corner untouched” in this vision for a full and comprehensive digitalization of the tax administration processes.
SICPA is a leading global provider of secured authentication, identification, and traceability solutions and services. It is a privately-owned Swiss company founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lausanne and a long-trusted advisor to governments, central banks, high-security printers, and industry.
SICPA’s mission is to enable trust through constant innovation. For more than 70 years SICPA has been at the forefront of research and innovation in security inks which are at the core of the company’s expertise. SICPA inks and special features protect the majority of the world’s banknotes, security, and value documents from counterfeiting and fraud.
The company integrates these security features with digital technologies, such as software and data management systems to offer solutions and services to governments, ensuring product authentication, traceability, and protection as well as tax reconciliation and production control. SICPA systems protect governments from tax revenue loss on products most often subject to illicit trade, such as excisable goods like alcohol, tobacco, and fuel, and support broader policy objectives in the fields of health and the environment. These systems also allow manufacturers to protect and authenticate their products and engage consumers.
Office of Information
Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs
Quadrangle Banjul.