On Friday, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) announced the reopening of four more land borders comprising Idiroko in Ogun, Jibiya in Katsina, Kamba in Kebbi and Ikom in Cross River.
An open border enables the free movement of people (and often of goods) between jurisdictions with no restrictions on movement and lacks significant border control.
In August 2019, Nigeria’s land borders were closed over the rapid increase of illegal importation of drugs, small arms and agricultural products into Nigeria from neighbouring West African countries.
The move, in the wake of the African Continental Free Trade Pact, halted trade relations between Nigeria and neighbouring countries, including Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin.
In December 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the reopening of borders in Seme in Lagos, Illela in Sokoto, Maigatari in Jigawa, and Mfum in Cross River, citing recommendations from a presidential committee on review and advice on the reopening of borders.
The other borders were later impacted by coronavirus lockdowns.
TheCable looks at how the reopening of the border will impact the Nigerian economy.
BOOST INTRA-AFRICAN TRADE
For Nigeria, reopening land borders would help bolster trade partnerships with other African countries, thereby facilitating its commitment to the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
AfCFTA is a trade agreement between AU member states to create “a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of persons and investments”.
AfCFTA agreement – which aims to boost intra-African trade – was ratified by Nigeria in November 2020, about a month before the country reopened the first-four land borders.
In November 2021, Buhari said, under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Africa could double its intra-African trade by 2030, reduce reliance on imports and therefore create more jobs within the continent.
In 2020, 19 per cent of Nigeria’s world exports and 8 per cent of world imports were intra-Africa, according to Trade Law Centre NPC (tralac), an independent think tank group.
The approval for an additional reopening of more borders would further increase the mobility of Nigeria’s import-export transactions with other African countries in the face of geopolitical realities such as the Russia-Ukraine war.
