Why Are MOST African Countries Reluctant to Liberalize Trade??

Why Countries Are Reluctant On Trade Liberalisation – Customs Chief

Daily Trust (Abuja)

NEWS
17 September 2007
Posted to the web 17 September 2007
Mr Buba Gyang, Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS ), has explained why most African countries were reluctant to drop duties on imports.

“They (duties) provide a large part of their annual revenue,” Gyang told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Accra, Ghana.

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According to him, some African countries depend on the duties for more than 60 per cent of their annual revenue.

“If you look at the issue of collapsing trade barriers from one point, you will realise that the customs’ duty is a barrier but how many African countries will be willing to part with the duties ?”, he asked.

He said Nigeria, which has one of the largest economies on the continent, generates about

N400 billion from customs’ duties and other taxes, making it the second largest earner after petroleum.

According to him, a country like Ghana depends on the duties for about 50 per cent of their total revenue while the other West African countries wait on the duties to augment their budgets as well.

“That is why the African countries are asking the European Union, which brought in the idea of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), to spell out alternatives, ” he said.

The EPA is a proposal by the EU to African, Caribbean and Asian countries to agree on liberalising their borders by the end of the year.

The Customs boss said the alternatives or development packages to supplement the revenue loss at the borders and ports had not been clearly spelt out by the EU, making many African countries reluctant on the EPA.