West African neighbours Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have announced a new 0.5% levy on imported goods as they seek to fund a new three-state union after leaving the larger regional economic bloc, they said in a statement.
The Alliance of Sahel States began in 2023 as a security pact between the military rulers of the three countries.
It has since grown into an aspiring economic union with plans for biometric passports and closer economic and military ties.
The levy was agreed on Friday and will take effect immediately. It will affect all goods imported from outside the three countries, but will not include humanitarian aid, the statement said. It will "finance the activities" of the bloc, it said, without giving details.
Regional impact
Leaders of the three West African nations announced a treaty for ''greater integration'' and the establishment of a confederation at their first summit.
The move ends free trade across West Africa, whose states have for decades fallen under the umbrella of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and highlights the rift between the three states that border the Sahara Desert and influential democracies like Nigeria and Ghana to the south.
The three countries exited ECOWAS recently, accusing the bloc of failing to assist in their fight against armed groups and ending insecurity.
ECOWAS had imposed economic, political and financial sanctions on the three in a bid to force them to return to constitutional order, to little effect.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have been grappling with violence by groups linked to al Qaeda and Daesh, which has killed thousands, forced millions to flee, and eroded faith in the democratically-elected governments who initially struggled to contain it.
