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ECOWAS: Niger Republic’s exit and impact on trans-border trade with Nigeria

Supreme Desk
28 Jan 2025 10:09 AM
ECOWAS: Niger Republic’s exit and impact on trans-border trade with Nigeria
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The processing fee and procedures have been rigorous on daily basis, with many of our goods being impounded by Niger Republic authourities.

Nigerian trans-border traders have expressed concern over what they described as “incessant extortion by some officials of the government of Niger Republic”, following that country’s exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).


Supreme news reports that the three military-led West African nations — Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, announced their immediate withdrawal from ECOWAS on Jan. 29, 2024, accusing the body of becoming a threat to members.

The traders, who spoke in separate interviews with news men on Monday, highlighted some of the challenges they encounter in cross-border trade between Nigeria and Niger Republic, which include high taxes, transportation and logistics problems.

They also said that since the exit of Niger Republic from ECOWAS, doing business in the border area had been subjected to stringent measures, with extra levies charged on goods exported into the country.

They decried series of security checks on the border roads and called for urgent Federal Government attention, alleging that the situation was heightened after the Niger President, Abdourahamane Tchiani, accused the Nigerian government of trying to provide France a military base to fight his country.

The traders, therefore, urged government to fine-tune diplomatic modalities on ease of doing business with the Niger Government, especially on levies charged on goods so as not to further increase inflation rate.

An official of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), who spoke on condition of anonymity, told news men that the volume of goods coming into Nigeria from Niger Republic has grossly reduced due to closure of borders with Niger and Benin Republics and other countries.

He said Niger Republic is a transit for movement of goods into Nigeria but that the border closure and ECOWAS protocols hinder businesses among neighbouring countries.

A merchant and resident of Sokoto State, Alhaji Abdulaziz Haruna, said Nigerian traders who engaged in border trade with Niger were being compelled to obtain international passports and pay different levies because ECOWAS documents and other concessions were no longer tenable.

Haruna said the situation subjected many Nigerian traders to untold hardships while some, who could not afford the expenses, abandoned the business.

He said “I transport charcoal and car parts from Nigeria to Niger Republic and Algeria and import metallic waste and sometimes livestock into Nigeria.

“The processing fee and procedures have been rigorous on daily basis, with many of our goods being impounded by Niger Republic authourities.

“These, and many other developments, forced some traders to abandon their businesses due to losses recorded over time.”

Another trader who deals in grains, Alhaji Abdulmalik Tambuwal, said series of security checkpoints between Nigeria and Niger Republic also hinder businesses, alleging that all categories of personnel extort money from traders.

Tambuwal said that the situation had drastically reduced the percentage of their profit, the main reason they embarked on business.

Malam Garba Ibrahim, the Village Head of Yan Matan Arabu in Illela Local Government Area of Sokoto State, said some Nigerians, especially from the north, engage in marital bonds and other social activities with Nigeriens, aside trans-border businesses.

Ibrahim said “the trans-border hitches with Niger might equally affect marriage relationships, as it had affected business settings where Nigerians were made to produce travel documents and pay levies.

“The situation has affected the age-long relationship between people of the two countries, though some people use alternate routes to enter into the two countries.

“Apart from trade, there are other things that bind us together, such as marital relationship: we also share the same culture and religion.”

The former Chairman of Illela, Abdullahi Haruna, also said that Niger’s exit from ECOWAS affected socio-cultural relationship between the people of the two countries.

He said Sokoto State shares a border with Niger Republic in five different areas, namely Gada, Gudu, Illela, Tangaza and Sabon Birni local government areas.

“We are having issues when it comes to travelling because border security officers reject ECOWAS travelling papers,” he said.

However, Alhaji Abubakar Bagudu, the Secretary of the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN) in Kebbi, commended Gov. Nasir Idris of Kebbi for signing trade agreement with President of Benin Republic, Mr Francis Tallon.

Bagudu said that the agreement, signed on Oct. 3, 2024, expanded business windows for traders in Benin Republic and Nigeria, in line with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), saying that the ECOWAS situation with Niger Republic had put a strain on business transactions.

In Katsina State, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdulrahman, a businessman and transporter in Mai’adua Local Government Area, said “about 60 vehicles with food items such as beans, soybeans, groundnut and sesame from Niger enter Mai’adua weekly market in Nigeria.”

Abdulrahman said that the traders in return carry goods such as maize, sorghum and vegetables from Nigeria to Niger with similar quantity of goods transported from other border markets located in Jibia, Dankama and Zango.

He added that the volume of goods being transported between the two countries has drastically reduced due to stringent regulations from Niger, making some traders to resort to illegal routes and other means of transportation such as motorcycles, ox cart, camels and donkeys to convey their goods into Niger.

The transporter alleged that security operatives from Niger Republic sometimes prevent traders from entering the country for business activities, unlike in the past.

He said “most of us now only enter through illegal routes, because they station their security agents who disallow Nigerians from entering with goods as usual.

“This started since their president accused the Nigerian government of trying to give France a military base to fight his country.”

The story is the same at the Maigatari International Cattle market in Jigawa, where cattle dealers said they now record low patronage because of the diplomatic impasse between Nigeria and Niger Republic.

Maigatari Local Government Area of Jigawa shares a land border with Niger Republic and the market is a major cross-border animal centre which attracts traders from Chad, Mali and Burkina Faso.

A check by Supreme news correspondent found that trading activities in the area in the past one year had not been the same due to new regulations and tariffs imposed by the military rulers in Niger.

Mr Abba Sale, the Secretary of the Maigatari Youths Development Association, told news men that there had been a rise in taxes on imported cattle from Niger Republic.

He explained that “previously, bringing a cow from Niger cost between N1,000 and N2,000 in taxes. Now, traders are forced to pay N20,000 per head. The increase in price makes it nearly impossible for traders to make profit.”

He urged the Federal Government to negotiate with Nigerien authorities on ways to reduce the tax burden to reinvigorate trading activities in the region.

He added that “we’ve shared a bond with Niger for hundreds of years. These taxes threaten the harmony and mutual benefits that defined our relationship.”

Hamza Sani, a resident of Maigatari, said high taxes had affected the sale of cattle, a critical economic driver in the region.

Also, grain merchants in Gombe State have lamented the impact of strained relations between Niger Republic and Nigeria.

The Tudun Hatsi Grain Market established about 88 years ago serves as trading hub between Nigeria and other countries such as Niger, Ghana, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Cameroon Republic.

Ali Musa, Secretary of the Tudun Hatsi Grain Market described the current trade conditions between Niger and Nigeria as burdensome, adding that traders now spend more to clear their goods due to high charges and logistic cost.

“Grain traders are made to offload goods at the Seme border for Niger buyers to collect. This complicates logistic moves and increases transportation cost,” Musa said.

In Bauchi State, Alhaji Abdullahi Mohammed, the Chairman, Amalgamated Union of Traders and Artisans, said “diplomatic tension between the two countries has affected artisans and semi-skilled workers, who used to move freely between Nigeria and Niger.”

In Maiduguri, trading is ongoing at the Nigeria-Niger boarder in spite of Niger’s withdrawal from ECOWAS, especially at the Geidam, Yusufari and Baga local government areas of Yobe and Borno.

Alhaji Baba Aji, the Chairman, Yusufari Local Government Area, told supreme news that goods such as livestock, sugarcane, potassium and guinea corn, were exchanged at the Mayori, Bulatura, Tulo Tulo and Sumbar markets in the area.

He said due to the remoteness of the areas, it would be difficult to have data on the transactions that occur in the border towns and villages.

In Geidam, trade between Nigerians and Nigeriens remained unchanged, according to Alhaji Abba Geidam, the Chairman of the Harmonised Traders Association.

He listed beverages, beans, onions, sorghum and livestock among the identified items of trade at the border community.

Geidam, however, said that the volume of trade in the area dropped mainly due to the activities of Boko Haram insurgents.

Some fish traders in Doron Baga of Borno said although business activities were still ongoing between Nigerian traders and their business partners in Niger Republic, increased levies remained their biggest challenge.

Malam Labbo Tahiru, one of the traders, said some traders from the Niger’s axis of Lake Chad were still bringing fish to Doron Baga market in Borno on weekly basis.

He, however, said that Niger agents at the border towns now charge N3,000 per bag of fish that cost N150,000 as against the N5,000 they used to charge on a whole truck of fish with about 300 bags of fish.

Alhaji Abubakar Gamandi, the Chairman of the fish traders in Doron Baga market, was of the view that unless something was done by the Nigerian government, the levies charged on goods coming to Nigeria would continue raise the inflation rate.

Musa Ali, a fish trader, told supreme news that they buy fish from Diffa in Niger but that they lost over 80 per cent of their revenue to the diplomatic rift.

He added that “I used to sell fish worth N2 million monthly; now, I struggle to make

N200,000.”

Another merchant, Ahmad Bala said that trading in recent times in Borno had declined in volume at the Nigeria-Niger border towns by more than 50 per cent.

Bala said “before the crisis, we export grains worth more than N5 billion annually to Niger. That figure has dropped to less than a N1 billion.”

Another trader, Amina Musa, said the situation had become unbearable to many small-scale business entrepreneurs, especially those operating in Yobe and Borno border towns.

In Malam Fatori, a key grain and fish market along the border, traders now navigate a complex web of regulations and risks, according to Malam Salisu Hamza, a grain merchant.

He said “some traders are still moving goods into Niger, but they are forced to use illegal paths, paying heavy tolls to customs, Boko Haram elements, and even Nigerien authorities.

“It is dangerous, expensive and unsustainable,” Hamza said.

Musa Ali, a businessman at the Nigeria border town in Geidam, said car dealers in Nigeria were also facing similar challenges, as Nigerien authorities collect up to N1 million levy on a car that cost about N3 million.

A transporter, Yusuf Umar, said many drivers have stopped cross border trips due to security-related issues and high levies.

“I have to stop my trips because it is no longer profitable. The amount we pay at checkpoints on illegal routes eat up all the profit. It is no longer worth the risk,” he said.

Meanwhile, an Economist, Mr Mustapha Zanna, said “allowing trans-regional trade to continue through illegal routes is disastrous to local economies.

“Border restrictions and strained diplomacy are crippling trade in the Lake Chad region. We need urgent action to reopen legal trade routes and address the root cause of these tensions.”

Another Economist, Dr Ahmed Sani, pointed out that allowing illicit trade routes to thrive would further strengthen insurgents and undermine border security and urged Nigerian Government to prioritise formal trade agreements and rebuild trust with Niger to stabilise the region.

A community leader in Damasak, Mr Fannami Modu, said that reopening formal trade routes would help to strengthen relationship between the two countries.

“We need a comprehensive approach to address the economic and security challenges,” he added.

In all, traders, transporters and community leaders have all called on authourities of both countries to embrace dialogue and resolve differences diplomatically.

They said that addressing issues diplomatically is the best option for unhindered trade relations among citizens.

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