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 development comes as they seek to fund a new three-state union after leaving the larger regional economic bloc, they said in a statement.

According to an official statement by the trio, the levy was agreed on Friday and will take effect immediately.

It will affect all goods imported from outside the three countries but will not include humanitarian aid, the statement said.

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

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.

Over time, this alliance evolved into an aspiring economic union with plans to promote deeper military and financial integration, including introducing biometric passports.

Last year, the three nations left ECOWAS, citing claims that the bloc had not sufficiently supported them in fighting Islamist insurgencies and addressing insecurity in their countries.

In retaliation, ECOWAS had imposed economic, political and financial sanctions on the three in a bid to force them to return to constitutional order, to little effect.