As Nigerian officials meet with those of Republic of Benin and Niger to discuss ways of addressing issues raised concerning Nigeria’s unilateral closure of its borders, analysts are worried that the outcomes may not solve the problems as the agreement reached still failed to address the fundamental issues relating to smuggling of goods across the borders.
Officials from the three countries involved met in Abuja over the week and agreed to among other things, established a joint border patrol team comprising the police, customs, and immigration to recommend a date for the reopening of the borders. The three countries agreed in a resolution at the end of the Tripartite Anti-Smuggling Committee Meeting of Nigeria, Benin, and Niger.
Reading the communiqué at the end of the meeting, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, said the meeting noted the concerns raised by Niger and Benin and agreed to establish a monitoring and evaluating committee of the three countries. He added that the committee would comprise ministers of finance, trade, foreign affairs, the customs, immigration, and the national security adviser. “The meeting agreed that the monitoring and evaluation committee will ensure the full implementation of the adopted mandate of the Joint Anti-Smuggling Human Trafficking Committee. Nigeria, Benin also agreed on the establishment of trade facilitation committee among the three countries, comprising of ministers of finance and trade” Onyema stated.
Continuing, he said that “to promote intra-regional trade among the three countries, as well as put in place, sanctions against smuggling of goods. The governments agreed to ensure persons from the three countries to enter/exit each other’s state with valid ECOWAS recognized travel documents through recognized controlled posts”.
Aside from the establishment of a joint border patrol team comprising the police, customs, immigration of the three countries, the team is to hold its first meeting in Abuja from November 25 to November 27, 2019. And the patrol team is to agree on the modality to carry out its operation and recommend a date for the opening of the borders.
Reacting to the outcomes of the meeting, Dr. Abdul Hassan of the West African Institute of Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) noted that this should be about the fifth time Nigeria and Benin Republic are meeting to agree on certain set objectives to tackle issues of smuggling and other illegal activities across the border posts but nothing ever came out of it. He added that there is still an existing joint patrol made up of personnel from both countries which has not been disbanded adding that the key issue is corruption within the customs and immigration of both countries. And unless it is addressed, we will still get back to square one.
It could be recalled that a member of the House of Representatives representing Daura Constituency in the House alleged that even with the said border closure, that smuggling is still ongoing across the Nigeria-Niger border post in Daura., saying that the Customs are culpable and should be called to order.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.
There is still no end in sight for Nigeria’s border closure, but Nigeria seems to be dragging its feet a little. Anytime, from November 26, there may be joint security forces manning the the closed borders, and at least giving way for certain goods to pass.
To this effect, Nigeria and neighbouring countries Benin and Niger have agreed to set up a joint border patrol force to tackle smuggling between the West African countries, they said in a communique on Thursday.
Foreign ministers from the three countries met to discuss smuggling following a decision by regional giant Nigeria, which has Africa’s largest economy and biggest population, to close its land borders to trade until at least Jan. 31, 2020.
Nigeria launched a partial border closure in August to tackle smuggling of petroleum products, rice and other goods; and last month, the Comptroller General of Customs confirmed that all trade via land borders had been halted indefinitely.
The joint communique from the meeting in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, said the Benin and Niger delegations had appealed for the immediate re-opening of Nigeria’s borders.
The concerns were noted and the delegates agreed on the “establishment of a joint border patrol team comprising the police, customs, immigration, navy and state security services of the three countries”, the communique said.
The force will hold its first meeting in Abuja on Nov. 25 and 26 and will later advise on the re-opening of the borders.
The delegates also agreed that the ministers of finance and trade from the countries would set up a committee to promote intra-regional trade, and said they would ensure people crossing their borders would display travel documents recognised by the Economic Community of West African States regional bloc.
Since taking office in 2015, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has introduced policies aimed at curbing imports and smuggling, to boost local production.
Despite being Africa’s top crude oil producer, Nigeria imports most of its refined fuel due to the moribund state of its refineries.
Some 10–20% of Nigerian fuel is then smuggled to neighbouring countries, according to the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, as gasoline is heavily subsidised in the country and prices are higher in neighbouring countries.
In July, Nigeria signed up to the African Continental Free Trade Area, a project to create a $3.4 trillion economic bloc, despite its fears that it could be flooded with cheap goods from competitive neighbours.
Source: Reuters
Charles Rapulu Udoh
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As the Nigerian Customs Service extends the border closure to January 2020, making it the longest closure in 40 years, the Nigerian government insists that opening the border will depend on several variables one of which is positive responses from the governments of Benin Republic. This is as the federal government say the ongoing ‘Exercise Swift Response’ will continue till January 31, 2020 based on ongoing deliberations at both national and regional levels. However, analysts say that this continued closure are choking regional trade, noting that businesses across the region have been complaining about the negative impact of the operation on the economy of the region.
Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd).
Most hit by the closure is the Seme corridor of the Lagos-Dakar International Corridor which has blocked a vital West African trade artery and is chipping away regional integration. Experts say that as the border remains closed, vegetables are rotting, as queues of lorries are choking up checkpoints on each side. While border closures are a familiar sight at Seme-Krake, this is reported to be the longest closure in about forty years, with no end in sight. The prolonged closure they say, is a reflection of deep fractures in cross-border trade relations. The cracks at Seme-Krake are particularly damaging since the border feeds the ECOWAS Abidjan-Lagos Corridor.
Nigerian authorities standing guard at the border say the closure is intended to stem the flow of illicit goods smuggled from Benin, which is compromising Nigeria’s agricultural trade, job creation, revenue collection and security. The issue of rice smuggling is particularly contentious, with Africa’s fastest growing staple featuring first on Nigeria’s long list of contraband goods. As Nigeria has made sweeping investments in developing rice production, officials say these efforts are undermined by smuggling from Benin.
Rice smuggled from Benin comes from outside the ECOWAS region, so it fails to meet the rules of origin to qualify for duty-free goods. Beninois smugglers also make a killing by importing rice at cheaper rates than Nigeria, and then selling it below market price in the Nigerian market. A single trip to the Seme-Krake border and its surrounding trade routes confirmed that smuggling is a very real problem that requires targeted action. The blanket closure of the border to all trade, however, is not the answer.
This is because, since the establishment of ECOWAS in 1975, the region has made significant strides in regional integration. The 15 ECOWAS member countries have become one interdependent system, meaning the Seme-Krake border closure has significant knock-on effects. First, the border closure blocks the trade of all goods, not just contraband such as rice, tomatoes and frozen poultry. Trucks entering Nigeria need to comply with ECOWAS conventions, which require all goods to be containerised and sealed at the point of origin until the final destination.
The Nigerian government has kept its seaports and airports open for non-contraband imports, as they have scanning facilities to inspect all imported goods. But this is not a realistic alternative for most traders. Key staple agricultural commodities such as maize, wheat and cassava, which qualify for duty-free status within ECOWAS, are therefore no longer being traded in either direction. This has hit incomes and food security. It also undermines the very foundations of the ECOWAS trade scheme – for the duty-free flow of goods throughout member countries.
Our Correspondent who visited the Seme Border confirmed that majority of trucks piled up at Benin checkpoints are laden with goods that are neither contraband nor imported from outside Benin. One female trucker with 9 seized coconut trucks complained that her cargo had been detained for two months, creating huge costs and unrecoverable losses. Secondly, regional integration has nurtured cross-border regional value chains. Much of Nigeria’s imports from Benin are raw agricultural goods, some of which are used to feed Nigeria’s growing agro-processing industry.
This means that the land border closure may serve to defeat its main objective of supporting agro-industry and employment. It could also hit productivity and raise costs in the agro-processing sector. The only option is to re-route trade to seaports or airports, which also drives up production costs for Nigerian industries. Thirdly, hard border infrastructure hides the strong and indelible links and bonds between border communities on either side of Seme-Krake. This has given rise to a micro-economy that thrives on informal cross border trade. This trade is small-scale, fluid and not subject to official border crossing procedures.
Unlike large consignments of formal trade, women moving with heavy loads of plantain and fabrics on their heads still cross the border. But today, the time taken to cross the border has more than doubled, and seen harassment by customs officials ramped up. Rolling out the recently piloted ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Cards to all cross-border communities would help to identify traders originating close to the borders, who may not have passports or other official means of identification.
Nigeria is still the biggest loser in this closure even though it has achieved relative gains. First, as the biggest supplier of traded goods along the Abidjan-Lagos corridor, the closure of the Seme-Krake border has cut off the origin and supply of many semi-processed and manufactured products to cross-border markets in Benin, Togo, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), African Export Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) and Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) are currently collecting data on the impact of the Seme-Krake border closure on volumes and prices of goods traded both informally and formally along the corridor.
If Nigeria’s land borders are not re-opened soon, its neighbouring countries may look to alternative suppliers to fill the gaps created by the closure. If this happens, even when the border re-opens, it may be too late for Nigerian suppliers to regain their market share. While smuggling along unofficial trade routes has significantly reduced, it has come at a huge cost for regional trade. Nigeria’s government are urging Benin to sign an agreement committing not to import goods that are onwardly smuggled. But enforcing such an agreement requires the costly deployment of security forces along both seams of the porous border.
A more cost-effective solution, and one in the spirit of furthering regional integration, would be to fully implement the common ECOWAS External Tariff enforce in 2015. This would make all goods imported from abroad subject to the same tariffs, and would go a long way in eliminating the gaping price disparities that incentivise smuggling. At the same time, governments must continue to invest heavily in transforming agriculture by boosting local production and competitiveness. This will remove the need to resort to trade policy measures to remain competitive.
Finally, the cracks at the Seme-Krake border have surfaced due to much deeper frictions in the implementation of ECOWAS trade policy. For the smooth functioning of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS), the Nigerian and Beninois customs authorities must cooperate to enforce the scheme, including through joint operations at the border. For the launch of trade in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) from 1st July 2020 to work, strong political commitment and reliable institutional arrangements to keep the continent’s 107 land borders open will be critical.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.
The impact of the protracted closure of Nigeria’s land borders have started taking its toll on neighbouring countries even as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has implored the Nigerian government to reopen the borders. According to reports, even countries as far flung as Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are feeling the impact as most of the trans- West African trade passes through the Lagos-Dakar Corridor which the unanimous border closure by Nigeria has put to a stop.
Farmers of perishable products in Cotonou Benin Republic
Over the weekend, business owners and farmers in Cotonou Benin Republic have protested to the Beninese government to step into the matter and have a round table discussion with Nigeria on ways to address the concerns that led to the border closure. Reports reaching our Correspondent show that most businesses that depend on cross border trade are shutting down and the worst hit are farmers of perishable products who complain that some of the products that are already in their harvesting season are wasting away because there is no market to push them to. A Farmer who spoke with our Correspondent said that this development means that Nigeria is choked off from supplies until the next harvest by local farmers. Most of the products affected are Tomatoes, Pineapples, Watermelons among others as the Farmer complain that the farm produce are wasting in the fields because customers who normally come from Nigeria to buy them cannot do so as a result of the closure.
Equally affected in Benin Republic is transportation as the routes for cheap smuggled fuel from Nigeria has been cut off. Those who wholly depend on these products for survival are going through difficult times, says Honore Sukku, a business man based in Cotonou. Mr. Sukku said that he has never experienced such a rough patch in living memory as the closure affects virtually every facet of the Beninese economy. He said that even cheap labourers from Benin who frequent Nigeria for various jobs ranging from plumbing, tiling, mason and carpentry. He concluded by warning that if both governments fail to sort out the problems as soon as possible, the impact would be much dire for both countries.
The Nigerian authorities insist that until the Beninese government help in curbing cross border smuggling into Nigeria, the border will remain shut. Sources from the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Authority (PPPRA) said that with the closure of the borders, there has been a drastic reduction in the quantity of petroleum products the country imports. Also agriculture sources say that more Nigerians now eat Rice grown in the country instead of foreign grown Rice. According to official figures, Nigeria has been ramping up rice production, with local output rising by 60% since 2013. But at 4.8 million tons last year, local rice production was still not enough for the 190 million Nigerians.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.
Nigeria’s indefinite shutdown of its borders is taking its toll on small and medium scale businesses especially those that depend on cross border transactions. This was the findings of our Correspondent who visited two key border towns of Seme and Idiroko over the weekend. Many business people this Correspondent spoke with lamented that the closure has negatively impacted their businesses as what they thought would be just for two weeks or less has become indefinite leaving them in limbo.
Col. Hameed Ali, comptroller general, Nigeria customs service
Nobody seems to know when the border will be reopened even as the ECOWAS Parliament has urged the Nigerian government to reopen them. Speaking on the development, the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd) said that Nigeria’s borders will remain closed until the country and its neighbours agree on existing ECOWAS protocol on movement. He stated that there is no specific time for opening the borders adding that “if they agree with us tomorrow on the existing laws, then we sign and update the existing protocol of transit, that’s all”. The Comptroller General informed that there is the likelihood that a meeting would soon take place as efforts are on top gear to have a round table discussion over the sticky issues relating to reasons why Nigeria had to shut its borders.
The Nigeria Customs Service said that it has made tremendous seizures of contraband products in recent times which necessitated government’s decisions to shut down the borders because it felt that efforts at growing the economy through import substitution is being sabotaged by people engaged in nefarious activities using the borders. Noting that by closing the borders, Nigeria was able to completely block the importation of contraband.
Reacting to the claims made by the Customs, some business people who spoke with this Correspondent said that it is a very wrong assumption by the Customs and the Nigerian government to see every product and business transactions across the borders are illegal or contraband because many businesses engage within the ambit of the law. They call on the federal government to resolve as soon as possible, whatever disagreement they have with the neighbouring countries and open the borders for businesses engaged in legal transactions.
Mr. Olufemi Johnson, a licensed customs agent said that what the government should do is to tighten the noose on smugglers while businessmen engaged in legal transactions should be allowed to continue with their businesses instead of such a blanket closure.
The Customs boss however insisted that the closure has helped Nigeria tremendously as it has led to the complete blocking of the influxes of illicit goods, and most importantly, stopped the exportation of petroleum product which is the biggest problem the country has. Also through the measure, the importation of foreign rice has stopped and the market for local varieties has risen.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.
