Across Africa, governments are racing to modernise trade systems, yet the skills needed to run those systems are not advancing at the same speed. For Alioune Ciss, CEO of Webb Fontaine, this gap has become the defining challenge and the defining opportunity for the continent’s customs and trade ecosystem.
Alioune Ciss, speaking on the sidelines of ongoing regional discussions on the AfCFTA and digital transformation in trade, paints a picture that is both pragmatic and urgent: Africa has the technology. It has the platforms. It has the data. What it lacks, still, is the ability to convert all of that into insight.
“There is still a shortage of officers who can interpret data, detect trends, and draw lessons that guide decision-making,” he notes. Digital systems are generating more information than ever, yet many administrations remain stuck at operational use, knowing how to navigate a platform without knowing how to interrogate what sits behind it.
Some regions are moving faster, he acknowledges. North Africa and Southern Africa have built stronger analytical capacity. West Africa, especially Benin and Nigeria, is quickly developing maturity in risk management and digital trade environments. But too many countries still treat training as a one-off exercise. Officers learn how to use a system and the learning stops there, even as the technology keeps evolving.
"Africa has the technology. It has the platforms. It has the data. What it lacks is the ability to convert all of that into insight."
Ciss believes the real shift will come when African countries normalise continuous learning. “When senior officers show how they use technology in valuation or post-clearance audits, younger staff learn in context,” he says. Practical learning environments, reinforced by stable training departments and regional centres of excellence, can help Customs officers start asking the right questions of their data and applying those answers to enforcement and policy.
He argues that governments rarely appreciate their role in building digital literacy fast enough. Public agencies can accelerate learning simply by guaranteeing that training departments have a budget, a mandate, and partnerships that survive political cycles. Private players, from port operators to logistics firms, can expose officers to how systems function in the real world. And when both sides work together, change sticks.
This is why Ciss is emphatic about public-private partnerships: “Technology succeeds when Customs and their partners design solutions together from the start,” he says. Too many systems, globally, have failed because they were engineered in isolation. When officers see their own input embedded in a system’s workflow or data model, adoption becomes natural, not forced.
As AfCFTA implementation accelerates, the skill requirements are shifting again. Tomorrow’s Customs officers will need fluency in data analysis, digital platforms, regional procedures, and cross-border coordination. Ciss argues that Africa must produce a workforce that understands both national systems and regional logic. “Skills in risk management and trade facilitation are becoming as important as knowing tariffs,” he says.
To prepare for this, training will need to connect national reforms to continental objectives. Shared certifications, harmonised curricula, exchange programmes, and short assignments across borders are already helping officers understand regional processes in practice, not theory. These relationships are creating an interoperable network of professionals who can solve issues faster along Africa’s major trade corridors.
Behind Webb Fontaine’s own work lies a capacity-building model built on immersion. Ciss describes training not as a workshop, but as hand-over through experience. Officers learn while working on live systems a deliberate choice aimed at making them independent as early as possible.
The company’s Excellence Centre at its R&D hub has become a deep-skills engine, offering advanced technical programmes for developers, engineers, and system administrators. The Sourcemind Academy extends this mission into local markets by developing national IT talent capable of supporting, maintaining, and improving digital trade systems long after implementation teams have left.
The results, he says, speak for themselves. In Benin, Nigeria, and Bangladesh, national teams trained during deployment now run their own capacity-building sessions and manage system improvements autonomously. Similar transitions are emerging in other countries, where training has evolved from dependence to self-reliance.
At the core of this philosophy sits Webb Fontaine’s R&D ecosystem, which Ciss describes as the company’s ‘engine room’. The centres build technology tailored to real operational needs, whether that’s Customs Management Systems, Port Community Systems, or Single Window platforms. Their teams work on AI, data analytics, and next-generation digital solutions, but always with national officers involved from the earliest stages. This co-development model, Ciss argues, ensures both relevance and transfer of competence.
For Ciss, the digital skills gap is not simply a challenge, it is Africa’s strategic opportunity. With the right investment, regional cooperation, and public-private partnerships, the continent can not only modernise its borders but create a generation of officers ready for a fully digital, fully interconnected AfCFTA era.
And in his view, Africa is closer than many think.
Originally published in CIO Africa: https://cioafrica.co/closing-africas-digital-skills-gap-in-customs/
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About Webb Fontaine
Established in 2002 and headquartered in Dubai, UAE, Webb Fontaine is a leading technology company specialising in Artificial Intelligence-driven solutions for global trade. With offices spanning Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, the company leverages its extensive expertise to provide governments and communities with innovative solutions that streamline trade processes and enhance efficiency.
Webb Fontaine is renowned for its pioneering technologies that help reduce trade fraud, improve Customs revenue, and expedite clearance times, supporting smoother and more profitable trading ecosystems. The company prides itself on a diverse workforce of over 700 professionals from 41 nationalities, emphasising a culture of excellence, innovation, and integrity.
The firm’s commitment to research and development is unmatched, owning the largest R&D centres in the trade sector, which are pivotal in advancing trade technology and practices. Webb Fontaine’s accolades include numerous international awards and certifications, underscoring its dedication to quality and leadership in trade facilitation.
