Incentives and Constraints of Informal Trade Between Nigeria and its Neighbours

Abstract

OECD Working Papers should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its member countries. The opinions expressed and arguments employed are those of the authors. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Working Papers describe preliminary results or research in progress by the author(s) and are published to stimulate discussion on a broad range of issues on which the OECD works. Comments on Working Papers are welcomed, and may be sent to the Sahel and West Africa Club, OECD,

Informal trade in livestock and livestock products

“…Formal cross-border trade entails the movement of goods into or out of a country through channels that are subject to official control or oversight, usually with some form of declaration to the government authorities on both sides of the border about the consignment in transit (6). This provides an opportunity to conduct inspections to ensure sanitary and phytosanitary compliance, to gather data useful for economic planning and to collect fees.…”

“…Informality implies unregulated, but may also have connotations of scale. 'Informal trade' has been defined as unorganised, smallscale, local trade which does not appear in the Customs record (6). However, the reality is more complicated.…”

Population and Morphology of Border Cities

“…Markets on both sides of the Niger-Nigeria border, for example, have flourished from the trade of various commodities and agricultural products, which the Nigerian economy could no longer produce, that were heavily subsidised, or that could be purchased for a lower price on global markets (Map 2.2) (Hoffmann and Melly, 2018). Import and export bans on a range of staple food grains and manufactured products further increased re-exports of goods from world markets that formally arrived in Benin, transited trough Niger, and entered the Nigerian market illegally.…”

Does Rice Quality Matter? Understanding Consumer Preferences for Rice in Nigeria

“…Market projections for the coming decade suggest that rice imports in Nigeria will continue growing, driven primarily by population growth, which will increase demand by 3.1% per year (Durand-Morat and Chavez, 2020). To slow the import of rice and improve self-sufficiency, the Nigerian government has implemented rice tariffs, levies, and quantity controls (Hoffmann and Melly, 2018). To avoid the added cost, rice is smuggled into Nigeria through tariff evasion at ports, like Lagos, and from Benin and Niger through eastern and northern land borders, effecting cities like Kano (Dorosh and Malek, 2016;Hoffmann and Melly, 2018;M.…”

“…To slow the import of rice and improve self-sufficiency, the Nigerian government has implemented rice tariffs, levies, and quantity controls (Hoffmann and Melly, 2018). To avoid the added cost, rice is smuggled into Nigeria through tariff evasion at ports, like Lagos, and from Benin and Niger through eastern and northern land borders, effecting cities like Kano (Dorosh and Malek, 2016;Hoffmann and Melly, 2018;M. E. Johnson and Dorosh, 2017).…”