By Mustapha Jallow
A delegation comprising officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) and senior tax administrators led by Gambia Revenue Authority Commissioner General began a week-long training course on tax policy and administration at Harvard University in the United States of America.
The tax-training program organized by Harvard University – provides an interesting and educative knowledge sharing and interaction with world class professors who had worked with IMF and other financial institutions. At least seventeen (17) countries are attending, featuring 39 participants across the world.
Speaking to reporters via WhatsApp during the coffee-break of the session, Yankuba Darboe, the Commissioner General of GRA, said the program is centred on comparative tax policy and tax administration knowledge sharing from different countries in the world.
“One of best universities in the world is currently taking us through quality lectures on taxation. So, we are looking forward to returning home with added knowledge that would have a positive impact in our revenue mobilization,” he remarked.
He commended his staff for participating in the program, which he added would add value to tax collection by his institution.
“In July alone, we collected D1.6 billion bringing our collections for the year to 62 percent of our annual revenue target,” CG Darboe said.
He further talked about the authority’s digitalization reforms that he says have also positively impacted on its revenue collection performance.
He said raising awareness on the importance of paying tax and continued staff motivation has been helpful to the GRA.
