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.
It has since grown into an aspiring economic union with plans for biometric passports and closer economic and military ties.
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.
How ECOWAS’ diplomacy blocks interstate wars
Meanwhile, nations in parts of the globe buckle under the weight of interstate wars, with humanity paying the ultimate price.
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.
