Why Burkina Exit from ECOWAS Will Have an Economic Impact

In an interview with the state daily, Sidwaya, the Minister of Economy, Finance and Foresight, Dr Aboubakar Nacanabo, read out the economic consequences of Burkina Faso‘s withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Before commenting on the possible consequences of Burkina Faso’s withdrawal, the minister recalled that the member countries of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) were already excluded from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) “since the recent changes that took place here, in Mali and Niger.”

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To return to the question of consequences, Dr Aboubakar Nacanabo recognized that “the exit from ECOWAS will inevitably have an impact on the economic level”

According to the minister, ECOWAS is a customs union, which presupposes the existence of a Common External Tariff (CET). “The CET assumes that any product coming from an ECOWAS member country enters Burkina by paying a preferential customs tariff and products coming from countries outside the ECOWAS area bear a customs tariff harmonized by the different countries,” he explained.

However, the minister reassured that the AES is a market of 70 million inhabitants. “It is a large part of the natural resource reserves of the ECOWAS region and it is an agropastoral zone par excellence. With all this potential, I think that our States will have the intelligence necessary to make this space a viable, solid and prosperous space,” argued the minister.

Asked whether there will not be a risk of inflation in the AES countries because of the withdrawal, Dr Aboubacar Nacanabo indicated that the control of inflation in the AES countries is happening by a good agricultural season, but also the price of oil that Burkina Faso mainly imports from outside ECOWAS. “The risk of inflation linked to leaving ECOWAS is therefore marginal,” he said.

As measures envisaged by the government to mitigate the consequences, the minister unveiled an agenda: “We are planning an exchange with the private sector to first reassure them and see with them the measures to be taken to strengthen the resilience of our economy for a shared prosperity.”

As for economic relations with ECOWAS member countries, the Burkinabe Minister of Economy placed emphasis on bilateral cooperation. “Our exit from does not in any way mean the end of bilateral relations. On the contrary, it is an opportunity to further strengthen bilateral relations with certain countries,” noted Dr Aboubacar Nacanabo.

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(Featured image by CHUTTERSNAP via Unsplash)

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First published in le faso.net. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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