Nigeria, Benin revive cross-border trade
The Federal Government of Nigeria and its counterpart in the Republic of Benin have agreed to begin the free flow of business across the borders, in the interest of citizens and residents of the two nations.
This was part of the agreement reached on Tuesday during a bilateral talk on how best to strengthen the business relations between the two countries.
The meeting, which was at the instance of Presidents Bola Tinubu of Nigeria and Patrice Talon of Benin Republic, was led by the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the two countries and other top government officials.
In August 2019, former President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the closure of Nigeria’s land border with Benin, blocking all imports.
Buhari’s directive significantly disrupted the trade of food items as millions of Nigerians heavily depended on imported food.
The administration said the directive was part of efforts to spur domestic food production and to curb smuggling and associated corruption.
On October 14, 2019, the government closed all of Nigeria’s borders with the Benin Republic and those of other countries for the same purpose.
“All goods for now are banned from being exported or imported through our land borders and that is to ensure we have total control over what comes in,” said the then Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali.
Ali said imports into Nigeria would flow through the seaports, where customs duties can be easily imposed.
However, speaking in his opening remarks at Segbana border post, a border town between Nigeria and Benin, the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alhaji Yusuf Tuggar, said the consultative forum was based on an order by President Tinubu and President Talon to strengthen social and economic interaction, as well as expand trade and commerce between the two countries.
“The meeting at the Segbana border post in Benin Republic is aimed at bringing the border crossing between Tsamiya in Nigeria and Anguwar Sule Wara in Benin Republic back to life, through infrastructural development, in line with the Renewed Hope initiative of President Tinubu.
“The meeting is to strengthen social and economic interactions, as well as expand trade and commerce between the citizens of the two nations,” he said.
In his remarks, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, said the meeting was to advance the course of regional integration between the two countries.
“For the past six months, the Nigeria Customs Service has been working together with the Customs Service of Benin Republic towards bringing the economies of both nations closer through easy border crossing and bringing back to life, the border post at Tsamiya and Anguwar Sule Wara.
“One of the major parts is that we have agreed to bring this particular border back to life, We have been given marching order by our ministers and we can assure you all that we will work towards achieving the target in a couple of weeks to come,” he said.
The Director-General of the Benin Customs Service, Mrs Adidjatou Hassan, said the meeting aimed to create a perfect working condition with Nigeria.
“We have been on this project of bringing this particular border back to life and, in the process, strengthening the business relations with our neighbour.
“One of our challenges is infrastructure, which we have started to address by embarking on improvement of facilities at the border, for easy access of entry between the citizens of the nations,” she said.
Governor Nasir Idris of Kebbi State thanked the presidents of the two countries for resuscitating the free flow of trade and transportation of goods to various destinations within the two countries.
“Kebbi State has maintained good neighbourliness with the Republic of Benin, which has been beneficial to both border communities and other residents on economic activities and social interaction,” he said.
Other officials at the meeting were Senior Minister, Ministry of Economy and Finance and Cooperation, Romuald Wadagni, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Benin Republic, Olushegun Adjadi-Bakaru, as well as top government officials from Kebbi State.
