Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have announced a new 0.5% levy on imported goods from Nigeria and other Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member-nations.

The countries revealed that the development comes as they seek to fund a new three-state union after leaving the larger regional economic bloc.

According to the official statement by the trio, the levy was agreed on and will take effect immediately, noting that it would affect all goods imported from outside the three countries but will not include humanitarian aid.

The move ends free trade across West Africa, whose states have for decades fallen under the umbrella of the 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, each ruled by military juntas that came to power through recent coups in 2023, had established the Alliance of Sahel States as a security agreement following their exit from ECOWAS bloc.

It will “finance the activities” of the bloc, it said, without giving details.