Single Window Systems
In the OIC Member States
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The OIC Member States can be grouped into “early adapters” that launched a Single Window
initiative in the late ’90s and a larger group of “followers” that started only from 2008 onward.
The early adapters were Senegal, Tunisia, Malaysia and Cameroon. The most recent initiative is
the Single Window in Algeria that was initiated in 2015 and is still in the project phase
Figure 21: Timeline of Single Window launches in OIC Member States
The implementation time from the political decision to the realisation of the operational Single
Window varies significantly – see On average, a little bit more than 3 years were
required from the political decision to the first operational Single Window. But the speed
varies significantly across countries: Azerbaijan, Brunei Darussalam, Côte d’Ivoire, and
Indonesia for example only needed one year, whilst Senegal needed eight and Burkina Faso
more than six years. Factors that explain these differences are the political process, but also
different implementation strategies, namely scaling. Single Windows can be launched with
limited services, i.e. the submission of manifest to customs services, to scale later on.
Senegal launched the initiative in 1996 but it only gained traction when the Customs Services
took ownership of the project in 2001, and it went operational in 2004. In Burkina Faso, three
years were necessary to move from the government decision to the strategic plan and the
launch of the project with the creation of the Single Window project entity / operator. Once
launched, the implementation project lasted four years until completion.