Chapter 10 Informal Cross-Border Trade and Smuggling in Africa Stephen Golub1 Forthcoming in the Handbook on Trade and Development: Africa Ed. Informal cross-border trade (ICBT) represents a prominent phenomenon in Africa. legal goods and services), which directly or indirectly escape from the regulatory framework set by the government, and avoid taxes and regulatory measures, hence go unrecorded into official national statistics. While the share of in-trade reached 40% in North America and 63% in Western Europe since mid-2000s, it was estimated at only 10 to 12% in Africa (UNECA, 2015). Univariate, regression analyses and various diagnostics tests were employed in the paper. Informal cross-border trade plays a vital role in providing income and livelihoods in border areas, ... UNDSS reports Boko Haram sleeper cells on the Nigerien side of the border, as well as the use of Niger for supply of fighters and weapons, and rest-and-recuperation from . Several studies suggest that for certain products and countries, the value of informal trade may meet or even exceed the value of formal trade. Informal Cross Border Trade contributes for 30-40% to intra-SADC Trade. There was need to identify how the provisions in the Customs Union and Common Market Protocols can be exploited in order to increase women’s trade volume, reduce transaction costs and … The unrecorded ows of goods across borders represent a signi cant share of international trade on the continent. Much of this trade takes place between border communities with strong and indestructible linkages. Typically, it is proximity trade involving the move of produce between markets close to the border. As a result, the state loses direct tax revenues that would be generated by formal cross-border trade. : (+228) 91 30 08 14 / (00234) 802 478 2037 OU 802 371 9864 / (00225) 01 72 79 90 / 57 40 20 86 Currently, the informal cross border trade monitor system includes 18 borders. Namibia Statistics Agency - Informal Cross Border Trade - ovember 2014 7 2. Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) in 2016 through a baseline survey on time and traffic in East Africa found out that introduction of one-stop cross border posts led to reduction in border crossing time by about 80% as compared to similar period in 2011. CM-Cross-Border Trade Between Nigeria and CEMAC Countries Estimating Trade Flows, Describing Trade Relationships, and Identifying Barriers to Cross-Border Trade between Cameroon and Nigeria May 7, 2013 AFTP3 AFRICA Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized. Seventy percents of informal cross border traders are women. Women Informal Cross Border Traders largely use un-gazetted border crossing routes despite the integration of the East African Countries and coming of the Customs Union and Common Market Protocols. Unregistered household enterprises comprise a significant portion of Nigeria’s economy, accounting for as high as 65 percent of GDP, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a blog article seen by businessamlive.. UN Women, New York 4 UNIFEM (2009) Sharing the Findings of the Baseline Studies on Women in Informal Cross-Border Trade in Africa Addis-Ababa ECA/ATPC. Uganda enjoyed a booming cross border informal trade, 80% of which was being done by women as their sole source of income. Informal cross-border trade has been a major feature of African economic and social landscapes dating back to the colonial era. Informal Cross Border Trade (ICBT) plays an important role in developing countries and act as accelerator of economic development, regional development of the borderland areas. The cross border monitors record data on a regular basis and transmit it to a central location for collation and analysis. In Africa, it is estimated to represent 43 percent of official gross domestic product (GDP), thus being almost equivalent to the formal sector. BoU says earnings from cross border trade dropped from USD 52 million (193.5 billion Shillings) in March 2020 to just USD 59,000 (219 million Shillings) at the end of May 2020. Informal cross-border trade in Africa . On the empirical side, informal trade is inherently di cult to measure. Informal cross-border traders are provided simplified certificates of origin by customs officials; a common list of goods that qualify for the STR; simplified customs documents; and assistance in completing customs documents, clearing procedures, and answering trade-related queries from the trade information desk officers at the borders. categories of trade are often lumped together as informal cross border trade, but the ˚ rst is rather di˛ erent than the other two in terms of both motivation and organization of trade. Mr Olusegun Awolowo, NEPC Chief Executive Officer, said this on Tuesday in Lagos at a Stakeholders Sensitization Programme on the ICBT activities along the Seme and Okerete trade corridors. Standard Disclaimer: This volume is a product of … This is not just siphoned into the informal economy; some is lost entirely. The new volume—Women and Trade in Africa: Realizing the Potential—demonstrates how women play a key role in trade in Africa and will be essential to Africa’s success in exploiting its trade potential. Estimates indicate that some 3 million metric tons of staple food commodities were traded informally in East Africa in 2013, and that several hundred thousand cross Southern Africa’s borders via informal routes every year. Moreover, informal cross border trade is also crucial to understand wh,y the level of intra-Africa trade is low by world standards. WorldStage Newsonline– The Nigerian Exports Promotion Council (NEPC) has stressed the need to formalise the Informal Cross Border Trade (ICBT) in the country. En mars 2010 le Mozambique a diffusé une note intitulée “ Cooperation between the Mozambique Revenue Authority and the Informal Sector aiming at Maximizing Revenue Collection” et présentée par M. Herminio Sueia. 3 UN Women (2010) Unleashing the Potential of Women Informal Cross Border Traders to Transform Inter-African Trade. including informal cross-border trade , a form of trade pervasive in many developing regions, and particularly in Africa (Golub,2015 ). Informal Cross-Border Trade and Trade Facilitation Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa The informal sector still constitutes an important part of developing country economies. fighting. Tel. understanding informal cross-border trade is also crucial to understanding why the level of intra-African trade is low by global standards. Informal trade is a common feature of African landscapes. The main foodstuffs traded in 2006/7 are maize (97,000 MT), rice (6,500 MT) and beans (10,000 MT). Informal trade in Africa. This paper provides a review of existing efforts to measure informal trade. Informal cross-border trade is an important component of a country’s informal sector as it has spill-over effects on trading countries, in particular the border towns. 5 Dejene, Y (2001) Women’s Cross-Border Trade in West Africa. However, the inevitable closure of borders … The population was Informal cross-border traders in North Eastern Nigeria who were selected through observatory method of sampling technique. It’s probably easier, cheaper, and faster to cross the border informally. Creating a favourable business environment for women exporters and informal cross-border traders: We are developing training modules on the legal rights of women SME and informal exporters under the East Africa Customs Protocol and will disseminate the modules through TSIs, including customs agencies in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Sudan. As informal cross-border trade alone is esti-mated to account for around 20% of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP; Blum, 2014), road infrastructure clearly mat- ters for the country’s economy. By Oliver Morrissey 10.1 Introduction: The African trade puzzle The low level and discrepancies of recorded intra-African trade flows have been noted for at least 30 years (Berg 1985, Yeats 1990). The borders are also an important source of livelihoods for women, who constitute a major proportion of cross-border traders. CHIPATA, Zambia, November, 14, 2013 – Despite its benefits, conducting cross-border transactions remains expensive for small traders in Malawi and Zambia, costing them 62 percent more in border costs than large formal traders. FEWS NET Southern Africa has prepared this report based on data collected by a network of cross border monitors based at selected border points in Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia. While there are systems in place to facilitate cross-border trade such as the current Simplified Trade Regime (STR) which eases several customs processes, there … The informality refers to the status of the trader (unregistered), not necessarily to the trade itself (captured or unrecorded by the official customs system). FOOD SECURITY AND CROSS-BORDER TRADE IN THE KANO–KATSINA–MARADI (K2M) CORRIDOR CILSS / FEWS NET / OCHA / SWAC / UNICEF / WAMIS-NET / WFP Joint mission report www.africacrossborder.org WABI/DT/30/06 . Regional exchange of traditional products and animals is not really smuggling insofar as it re˝ ects traditional practices within regions transcending borders. 2 Informal artisanal fish trade in West Africa: Improving cross-border trade Authors Raymond K. Ayilu1, Theodore O. Antwi-Asare1, Paul Anoh2, Amadou Tall 3, Narcisse Aboya2, Sloans Chimatiro4 and Seraphin Dedi5 Authors’ Affiliations 1 University of Ghana 2 University of Felix Houphouet-Boigny 3 Consultant 4 WorldFish 5 Fisheries Committee for West-Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) West African Association for Cross-Border Trade, in Agro-forestry-pastoral and Fisheries Products – WACTAF (French: Association Ouest Africaine du Commerce Transfrontalier des produits Alimentaires, Agro-sylvo-pastoraux et Halieutiques as AOCTAH).ECOWAS ITRSP. In addition, women trade predominately in lower value, low profit products. Informal cross-border trade is trade between neighbouring countries conducted by vulnerable, small, unregistered traders. While the share of intra-regional trade reached 40 percent in North America and 63 percent in Western Europe since the mid-2000s, it was estimated at only 10-12 percent in Africa (UNECA, 2015). Informal cross border trade, by definition, requires traders to cross the border to sell their goods and services on the other side. The Nigeria chapter of the New Faces New Voices (NFNV), an initiative of the Graca Machel Trust, in partnership with the United Parcel Service, the US-headquartered global logistics company, has commenced the implementation of the second of NFNV Nigeria’s “Raising Voices for Cross Border Traders in West Africa” project. transfrontalier intitulé “Informal cross-border trade and trade facilitation”, TD/TC/WP(2008)13/REV1. To Rwanda, Informal Cross Border Trade (ICBT) generally refers to imports and exports of legitimately produced goods and services (i.e. For example, many shippers opt to dock in neighbouring countries rather than deal with the expense and difficulty of using Nigeria… LAUNCHING AN INITIATIVE The West African Borders and Integration, or WABI, Initiative was launched following a workshop on border cooperation held in … The large Nigerian migrant community in Anglophone Cameroon, in particular, has been able to benefit from formal and informal cross-border trade for a long time. Informal cross- border trade and smuggling in Africa 193 smuggled through in smaller quantities, as described above, or cross the border with the connivance of customs officials. While it is difficult to precisely assess the magnitude of such trade due to lack of consistent measurement tools and accurate data, estimates suggest that it continues to play a large role in Africa. 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