Sydney Chibbabbukka

Customs, trade facilitation and border management specialist with 30 years’ experience spanning customs administration, regional integration, transport corridors and cross-border trade across Africa.

Sydney has advised governments, regional institutions and development partners across Africa on customs reform, coordinated border management, trade and transport facilitation and corridor development. He served for five years as Commissioner of Customs Services at the Zambia Revenue Authority, overseeing the country’s customs operations and subsequently chaired the African Union Directors General Customs Sub-Committee.

His work has included coordinating the establishment of 15 One-Stop Border Posts across the East African Community, supporting major border and transport corridor programmes across Southern, Eastern and Western Africa, and developing national coordinated border management strategies. He was a lead author of the second edition of the One-Stop Border Post Sourcebook, which provides guidance for the establishment and operation of OSBPs across Africa. His advisory experience spans institutions including the African Development Bank, the Southern African Development Community, the East African Community, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and World Bank-supported programmes.

More recently, Sydney developed a continental regulatory framework for the establishment and operationalisation of One-Stop Border Posts for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), including model legislation, bilateral agreements, harmonised border procedures and performance frameworks to support implementation by African Union Member States.