Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali’s neighbours in West Africa have implemented a new 0.5% tax on imports.
They claimed this in a statement as they looked to exit the broader regional economic bloc and raise money for a new three-state union.
The Intercept noted that the three nations’ military leaders, who have seized power in recent years through coups, formed the Alliance of Sahel States in 2023 as a security agreement.
With ambitions for biometric passports and deeper military and economic links, it has since developed into an aspirational economic union.
The statement claims that the levy was decided upon on Friday and will go into effect now.
According to the statement, humanitarian aid will not be subject to the charge, which will apply to all products imported from outside the three nations.
In addition to highlighting the divide between the three states bordering the Sahara Desert and robust democracies like Nigeria and Ghana to the south, the move ends free trade throughout West Africa, whose states have been a part of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, for decades.
Last year, the juntas of the three nations declared their intention to withdraw from ECOWAS, citing the bloc’s failure to support their efforts to combat Islamist rebels and eradicate insecurity.
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To little effect, ECOWAS had placed financial, political, and economic sanctions on the three in an attempt to compel them to restore constitutional order.
Over the past ten years, an armed Islamist insurgency has taken over several of the world’s poorest nations, including Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
Groups associated with al Qaeda and Islamic State have been responsible for the bloodshed, which has killed hundreds, displaced millions, and damaged trust in democratically elected governments that at first found it difficult to control.
