Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have jointly announced a 0.5% levy on imported goods, effective immediately.
This new tax aims to fund the Alliance of Sahel States, their burgeoning union.
The alliance, initially a security pact in 2023, now seeks deeper economic and military cooperation.
This levy excludes humanitarian aid but impacts all other goods from outside the three nations.
This move effectively ends free trade with the rest of West Africa, a region long unified under ECOWAS.
The Sahel nations’ departure from ECOWAS last year underscores a growing rift.
The juntas cited ECOWAS’s failure to aid their fight against Islamist insurgents as a key reason for their exit.
ECOWAS had previously imposed sanctions on the three states following their recent coups.
The newly imposed levy will finance the activities of the Sahel Alliance, though specific details remain undisclosed.
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, grappling with poverty and a decade-long Islamist insurgency, face significant challenges.
The ongoing violence has claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions across the region.