Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso Introduce 0.5% Levy on Imported Goods from Nigeria, Other ECOWAS Countries

• Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have imposed a new 0.5% levy on imported goods to fund their newly formed three-state union after exiting ECOWAS
• The Alliance of Sahel states, initially established as a security pact in 2023, is now evolving into an economic and military union with plans for biometric passports
• The levy, effective immediately, applies to all imported goods except humanitarian aid, which signals a major trade shift in West Africa

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.

Despite the moves by Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), West African countries, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have announced a new 0.5% levy on imported goods.

They imposed this levy intending to fund a new three-state union after leaving the larger regional economic bloc, Sahel Juntas revealed in a statement.

According to Reuters, the Alliance of Sahel States began in 2023 as a security pact between the military rulers of the three countries, who all took power in coups in recent years.

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It has since grown into an aspiring economic union with plans for biometric passports and closer economic and military ties.

What to know about 0.5% levy imposed on imported goods

The levy was agreed on Friday, March 28, and will take effect immediately. It will affect all goods imported from outside the three countries, but will not include humanitarian aid, the statement said.

Also, the levy will "finance the activities" of the bloc, it said, without giving details.

According to reports, the move ends free trade across West Africa, whose states have for decades fallen under the umbrella of the ECOWAS, and highlights the rift between the three states that border the Sahara Desert and influential democracies like Nigeria and Ghana to the south.

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In Eastern Europe, Russia’s relentless invasion of Ukraine rages on, while in the Gaza Strip, a surprise strike by Palestine’s Hamas in October 2023 ignited an inferno of war with Israel, trapping civilians in an unending nightmare.

Remarkably, such cross-country conflicts have been avoided in the West African subregion; Legit.ng analyses how this was made possible.

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Tinubu vows to return Mali, others to ECOWAS

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said the interest and welfare of the citizens in Niger Republic, Mali, and Burkina Faso remained a priority for leaders of ECOWAS.

Tinubu, the chairperson of ECOWAS, assured that diplomacy and wisdom would make the difference in reintegrating the countries into ECOWAS.

Receiving the president of Germany, Frank–Walter Steinmeier, in a state visit at the presidential villa, Abuja, President Tinubu noted that the leadership of the three countries had been reluctant to bring out transition programmes with clear dates.

Proofreading by Kola Muhammed, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng