Now to business news…Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have introduced a 0.5% levy on goods imported from Nigeria and other ECOWAS nations.
The new tariff is to fund their recently formed three-state union following their withdrawal from the regional bloc.
According to an official statement, the levy, agreed upon last Friday, takes immediate effect and it will affect all imported goods except humanitarian aid.
Analysts believe the move will disrupt free trade across West Africa and deepens the economic divide between these Sahel nations and regional powers like Nigeria and Ghana.
Their exit from ECOWAS last year was driven by claims that the bloc failed to support them in fighting insurgency.
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