Apart from poorly thought out economic and fiscal policies, deplorable port access roads, as well as the well documented poor operational efficiency in Nigerian ports, the issue that has dominated stakeholders’ discuss of recent, is the border closure and serial abuse of the ETLS protocol via state policy by some ECOWAS neighbours and the need to evaluate the relevance of the protocol. Okey Ibeke and Pius Mordi capture the dynamics of the abuses.

Lining up in a convoy, 12 trailers loaded with fruit juice headed towards Seme border post, the final gateway to unleashing the product into the huge Nigerian economy. At the Customs post on the Nigerian side, the operatives examined the hundreds of cartons of the freshly packed goods labeled ‘Made in Ghana’. And after due evaluation of the accompanying documents, the convoy of 12 trailers was allowed in even though the importation of fruit juice into Nigeria was prohibited.

Under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS), goods made in any country within the sub-region are not affected by the federal government’s ban on importation. With the payment of a 0.5 percent levy on the accessed value of the consignment, such goods are legally allowed into the Nigeria.

It was the culmination of a journey that began weeks earlier. The consignment of fruit juice was not made in Ghana and the government there did not authorise the transaction. Rather, it is a time-tested successful strategy used by unscrupulous businessmen mainly of Asian origin, led by the Lebanese, Chinese and Indians, to circumvent the noble intentions of the ETLS. These business people have found in the authorities in Benin republic and its strategic deep seaport in Cotonou a safe outpost for their scheme of undermining Nigeria’s economy and reaping stupendous profits.

Read More : https://businessandmaritimewestafrica.com/how-ecowas-trade-protocol-undermines-nigerias-economy/

no way for those undermining our economy.

I know wailer for sure wants the continual retrogression of our economy, hence thier support for illegal border business activities and condemnation of its closure