ECOWAS Faces Economic Turmoil As Niger, Burkina Faso, And Mali Set To Escalate Tensions With Import Taxation

Joel Ahofodji, Head of Communication for the ECOWAS Commission, confirmed to Punch on Wednesday that the extraordinary council meeting will take place on April 22, 2025. The meeting will focus on the new tariff and related regional issues. When asked if ECOWAS would retaliate against the AES for the import levy, Ahofodji stated, “ECOWAS will have an Extraordinary Council on the 22nd of April. All these issues will be discussed.”

The AES, comprising the military junta-led nations of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, introduced the 0.5 percent import duty on goods coming from ECOWAS countries. This levy is part of the AES’s efforts to generate revenue for the newly formed alliance, which recently withdrew from ECOWAS in January 2025.

The levy, which took effect on March 28, applies to all goods entering Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, with the exception of humanitarian aid. This move directly challenges ECOWAS’s long-standing objective of promoting free trade and movement of goods between member states, including those in the AES, despite their official exit from the regional bloc.

The new import duty undermines the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS), which facilitates duty-free and quota-free movement of goods and services within the region. The AES’s action creates a new trade barrier, raising concerns over supply chain disruptions, price inflation, and increased trade costs in the affected countries.

This development weakens the regional bloc’s free trade framework and poses significant challenges to ECOWAS, which must now address the implications of the AES’s actions while balancing the interests of all its members.

Relations between ECOWAS and the AES countries have been strained since their decision to leave the bloc in early 2024. The departure followed months of disagreements, with the junta governments of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso accusing ECOWAS of not supporting their efforts against terrorism and imposing sanctions that harmed their populations. Despite the lifting of the sanctions, the three countries have remained outside of ECOWAS.

In response, ECOWAS issued guidelines to reduce disruptions for businesses and citizens, including provisions for duty-free trade, visa-free movement, and residence. The regional body has also expressed openness to discussions should the AES countries choose to rejoin in the future.

In another significant move, Niger officially withdrew from the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), a regional military force combating Islamist insurgency in the Lake Chad region. The MNJTF, which includes forces from Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon, has been operational since 2015.