Public Management

Nigeria’s Buhari orders reopening of borders with Benin, Niger, and Cameroon

Nigeria’s Buhari orders reopening of borders with Benin, Niger, and Cameroon
Thursday, 17 December 2020 14:59

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari ordered yesterday Dec 16 the immediate reopening of land borders with Benin, Niger, and Cameroon.

“President Buhari has directed the immediate opening of four land borders: Seme, Illela, Maigatari, and Mfun,” an official tweet by the Presidency indicated. This announcement comes as an end to more than a year of trade tensions between Buhari’s country and its neighbors, especially Benin.

In August 2019, Nigeria closed its land border with Benin to “fight against rice smuggling” and other products from outside that were flooding the Nigerian market. A few days ago, the Nigerian President said this measure was to some extent also aimed at controlling weapon and drug smuggling at borders. “Now that the message has sunk in with our neighbors, we are looking into reopening the borders as soon as possible,” he said.

However, some may believe that this new decision reflects a failure by the government to uphold the protectionist measures undertaken in recent years. If the government wanted to achieve food self-sufficiency through these measures, it’s obvious it missed its target. Rather, not only have the measures had immediate economic consequences, affecting even other countries in the region, notably Togo, they have also led to higher inflation in Nigeria, as commodity prices have soared considerably in the country. By November 2020, inflation had reached 14.9%, its highest level in nearly 3 years.

This border reopening does not guarantee a definitive resolution of trade tensions between the parties. In November 2019, a tripartite Benin-Niger-Nigeria committee was created to find solutions for the reopening of borders between these three countries. For the moment, the latter has not yet made any official comments, in the sense of a definitive solution to avoid the repetition of such a scenario in the future.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou

Additional Info

  • communiques: Non
  • couleur: N/A
On the same topic
Africa Re reports net profit of $199 million in 2025, up 50.62% year-on-year. Investment income reaches record $114 million while FX losses...
Enko Capital acquires Servair’s fast-food unit in Côte d’Ivoire, including the Burger King franchise. Transaction may alter Servair Abidjan revenue...
Africa’s ultra-wealthy population expected to rise 15% by 2031 Continent’s share of global wealth declines amid faster growth...
Togo holds talks with IMF and World Bank during Washington meetings Focus on tools to manage crises and protect vulnerable...
Most Read
01

(EBID) - EBID aims to allocate nearly 41% of its commitments to projects with environmental and...

EBID makes giant strides for a green transition in west africa
02

Mobile phones have become essential tools for work, education, payments and staying connected across...

EU Mandates Removable Phone Batteries. What It Means for Africa’s Device Market 
03

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated asked shareholders to vote on a $500 million Tier 2 Eurobond...

Ecobank Calls Vote on a New $500 Million Bond, With Eyes on a June 2026 Capital Cliff
04

Africa produces what it doesn’t consume, and consumes what it doesn’t produce. That stark line captu...

“Private Investors Are Not Philanthropists: Risk Must Be Shared” — Tarek Toko Chabi, BOAD
05

Funding part of $250 million raise to boost investor confidence Fintech expands services, pr...

Nigeria Approves $75 Million Investment in Flutterwave Ahead of NGX Listing
Enter your email to receive our newsletter

Ecofin Agency provides daily coverage of nine key African economic sectors: public management, finance, telecoms, agribusiness, mining, energy, transport, communication, and education.
It also designs and manages specialized media, both online and print, for African institutions and publishers.

SALES & ADVERTISING

regie@agenceecofin.com 
Tél: +41 22 301 96 11 
Mob: +41 78 699 13 72


EDITORIAL
redaction@agenceecofin.com

More information
Team
Publisher

ECOFIN AGENCY

Mediamania Sarl
Rue du Léman, 6
1201 Geneva
Switzerland

 

Ecofin Agency is a sector-focused economic news agency, founded in December 2010. Its web platform was launched in June 2011. ©Mediamania.

 
 

Please publish modules in offcanvas position.