NatureNews examines the impact the reopening of the borders has had on rice price and production
By Olamide Francis
In August 2019, almost immediately after signing the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCTA), Nigeria unexpectedly closed its borders against its neighbours. Nigeria’s president Mr Muhammadu Buhari said the action was to catalyse an auspicious rebirth of the economy, ensure food self-sufficiency, strengthen the porous borders and prevent smuggling of rice and other products into the most populous black nation.
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Since then, food prices unprecedentedly soared, reaching an all-time high of 18.3% while inflation in the country of the more than 200 million people rose to a three-year high of 14.9%, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The government promised that the closure would be brief and would be reopened before the end of the first quarter of 2020. It turned out to be an empty promise.
During those times, the decision from the federal government was met with flak and furore from Nigerians home and abroad as well as relevant stakeholders in the ECOWAS community and neighbouring countries benefitting from trade relationship with Nigeria.
“Food inflation is a good example of the outcome of the border closure, considering that 2020 saw 22 states in the country experience flooding, especially the food producing areas,” Samuel Segun, analyst at SMB Intelligence said.
He noted the growing insecurity that has led to attacks on farmers. “So, the government choosing to ban the importation of food items under the guise of border closure hasn’t translated into higher production of food by farmers,” he added.
The Chairman of the ECOWAS Commission, Ivorian Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, also lent his voice to the border closure: “These are difficult times for our community. There is danger in the rest (because) our gains are undermined by the closure of land borders to goods between Niger, Nigeria and Benin for six months now, (which) has a negative impact on the volume of inter-community trade for the years 2019 and 2020.”
“This closure has profound repercussions on trade, economic operators, not forgetting consumers who today have doubts about our community,” he added, referring to “catastrophic financial consequences.”
Alas, the borders were reopened in December 2020, because the closure was conspicuously a failed experiment owing to the nation falling into second recession in five years.
How border reopening affects rice
Since the reopening of the border, rice traders opined that the price of rice is gradually reducing. NatureNews spoke to rice traders.
“We have started to see a reduction in the price. We used to buy for almost N25,000 when the border was shut but now, we get it for N21,000-N22,000,” Dorcas, an owner of a rice store in the Lagos-Ogun border community said.
Others described the reopening of the border as a welcome development stating that it’ll help them move their goods to neighbouring countries.
Adeyemi Zainab, a foodstuffs dealer said, “There is no reason to lock the borders. We are simply punishing ourselves more than we are doing to surrounding countries. With the opening of the borders, business can be back to normal. We aren’t producing enough yet we choose to shut ourselves out.”
Food vendors also expressed pleasure at the reopening of the borders, stating that it has improved sales of not just rice but other food.
“We have had to reduce the quantity of food we serve in our restaurants because of the increase in the price of rice and other related food. With the reopening of borders, we can now get rice at a price lower than before,” Adepeju Obasa, a restaurant owner in Lagos said.
