The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) counts gains of land border closure to businesses and economy. The closure of land borders is part of Federal Government’s plans to revive local industries and tackle smuggling of rice and other commodities, writes COLLINS NWEZE.

Nigeria’s economy is estimated at $450 billion based on World Bank statistics. The economy could have been larger but for the porosity of its land borders.

For years, goods, especially rice, from neighboring countries come in and out of Nigeria without trace. The practice has led to not only revenue loss and the closure of local industries, but aggravated Nigeria’s security challenges. The biggest contraband route was between Cotonou, Benin’s biggest city, and Lagos.

But all that changed in August 21, when the Federal Government closed all Nigerian land borders to check smuggling and breath life into local industries, especially rice milling and farming, the worst hit segments of the economy.


Nigeria’s immediate neighbours Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon – as well as Ghana and Togo have been hit by the border closure. The exercise brought the bustling borders to a standstill, with goods rotting and queues of lorries waiting at checkpoints in the hope they would be reopened soon. The delay in opening the border has brought some relief to Nigerian businesses.

For instance, the Nigerian rice industry, which for years was almost non-existent as over 80 per cent of rice consumed locally was imported, is gradually regaining its lost glory.

The recovery seed was planted in 2015 when the Federal Government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched rice farming in Kebbi State. That singular exercise triggered upsurge in the number of people across the country going into rice farming.

The country also witnessed more people setting up integrated mills across the country with funding and other support from the CBN but the threat of smuggling crippled these businesses. Whatever efforts were made were dwarfed by smugglers and economic saboteurs who brought contraband products into the country.

The smugglers took advantage of the country’s porous land borders to bring in substandard rice and other products until the land borders were closed.

Aside the closure of the land borders, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele disclosed that the apex bank had blocked accounts of identified smugglers, as well as commenced investigations to ascertain their culpability in what he described as economic sabotage.

Emefiele, who made the disclosure at a consultative roundtable tagged: “Going For Growth” in Lagos, said smugglers and dumpers have been the major saboteurs of the economy.

The move may have kicked off the apex bank’s efforts to make good its threat of going after smugglers, particularly of 43 items that can be produced locally, which it slammed “Not Valid for Foreign Exchange.

He said: “In due course, we would come out with the names of companies that have been identified, as we want to be sure and come out with credible facts that are not deniable.

“We have already blocked accounts of some in the textile, rice and palm oil industries. We are now investigating those accounts, and as information becomes clearer and we see that they committed the offence, we would go to the next round, which is forbidding all banks from banking with them.”We have decided to deal with them, but in our own way. We would use the instrumentality of being the regulator and head of banking system to get the details of these smugglers, investigate their accounts and if culpable, we would not only block the accounts, but close them, including those of their promoters.”

Border closure not new

Nigeria banned the importation of rice from Benin in 2004 and from all its neighbors in 2016, but that has not stopped the trade. Nigeria is only allowing in foreign rice through its ports – where since 2013 it has imposed a tax of 70 per cent. The move is intended not only to raise revenue but also to encourage the local production of rice.

But smugglers have been taking advantage of the fact that it is cheaper to import rice to Nigeria’s neighbors. In 2014, Benin lowered its tariffs on rice imports from 35 per cent to seven per cent while Cameroon erased it completely from 10 per cent.

The economic relationship between Benin and Nigeria , both members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is unequal, with Nigeria exerting much more influence on Benin.

Given Nigeria’s over 200 million population, economy, and natural resource wealth, Benin has adopted a strategy centered on serving as a trading hub, importing goods and re-exporting them legally but most often illegally (through smugglers) to Nigeria, thereby profiting from distortions in Nigeria’s economy until the ongoing border closure commenced.

CBN moves against smugglers

Emefiele said the bank accounts of all identified smugglers would be frozen soon. He expressed satisfaction that the decision to close all land borders had not only created more jobs but also boosted rice and poultry productions in the country.

“You will all recall that we have been embarking on a programme where we are saying if you are involved in the business of smuggling or dumping of rice in the country, we close your account in the banking industry. Although that is coming very effectively,” the CBN governor said.

Continuing, he said: “You will all recall that in November 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, the Central Bank and some state governors went to Kebbi State to launch the Wet Season Rice Farming. Since then, we have seen an astronomical growth in the number of farmers who have been going into rice farming and our paddy production has gone up also quite exponentially.

“Between 2015 and also now, we have also seen an astronomical rise in the number of companies, corporate and individuals that are setting up mills, integrated mills and even small mills in the various areas. And the central bank and the federal ministry of agriculture and rural development have been the centre of not just only encouraging the production of rice in Nigeria but also funding these farmers by given them loans to buy seedlings, fertilizers or some of the herbicides that they need for their rice production”.

Border closure gains by CBN

Emefiele disclosed that before the border closure, Rice Processors Association disclosed that all the rice millers and processors were carrying in their warehouses over 25,000 metric tons of milled rice, which were unsold due to smuggling and dumping of rice through Republic of Benin and other border posts.

Continuing, he said: “We also have members of the Poultry Association of Nigeria who also complained that they have thousands of crates of eggs that they could not sell together with even some of the processed chickens that they could not sell also arising from problem of smuggling and dumping of poultry products into Nigeria.”

“A week after the borders were closed, the same rice millers association called to tell us that all the rice that they had in their warehouses have all been sold. Indeed, a lot of people have been depositing money in their accounts and they have even been telling them ‘please hold on don’t even pay money yet until we finished processing your rice.’

“The Poultry Associations have also come to say that they have sold all their eggs, they have sold all their processed chickens and that demand is rising. So, when you asked, what is the benefit, the benefit of the border closure on the economy of Nigeria, I just used two products – poultry and rice.

Emefiele added that the benefit is that it has helped to create jobs for our people, it has helped to bring our integrated rice milling that we have in the country back into business again and they are making money. Our rural communities are bubbling because there are activities because rice farmers are able to sell their paddy.

“The poultry business is also doing well, and also maize farmers who produce maize from which feeds are produced are also doing business. These are the benefits. “We are not saying that the borders should be closed in perpetuity, but that before the borders be reopened, there must be concrete engagements with countries that are involved in using their ports and countries as landing ports for bringing in goods that are smuggling into Nigeria.’

Also speaking, an entrepreneur, Emeka Eneanya, has commended the Federal Government and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for the decision to partially close the land borders as a way of checking insecurity and massive smuggling activities especially of rice taking place along the border routes.

He said that border closure will promote economic growth.

Speaking to traders during a visit to Onitsha Main Market, Anambra State, Eneanya , said the initiative by the NCS has demonstrated government’s desire to protect agricultural sector and tother investments which have been adversely affected by smuggling.

Ghana plans rice import ban too

Like Nigeria, the Republic of Ghana has put plans in place to ban the importation of rice and poultry in three years’ time.

This information was made public by the Minister of Agriculture for the West African nation, Owusu Afriyie-Akoto.

According to him, Ghana wants to divert its attention into boosting local production and shun heavy reliance on rice and poultry importation, hence the three years’ timeline.

It was pointed out that 82 per cent of the bulk of Ghana’s imports is for rice alone.

This accounts for over $1 billion, a calculation that translates into almost two per cent of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to Ghana Deputy Trades Minister, Robert Ahomka Lindsay.

Ghana Agric Minister wants to combat this importation struggle through a flagship programme known as Planting for Food and Jobs in order to boost local capacity to meet high demand as well as simulate trade between merchants and local farmers.

Afriyie-Akoto said the Planting for Foods and Jobs initiative could be operational in three years and enough to combat rice and poultry importation during that same period. He was confident his ideas would work because the law backs his decisions and he noted that the initiative did not violate World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules neither was it overambitious.

Ghana’s Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said the country’s traders had incurred huge losses because their goods had been detained for weeks at the Nigeria-Benin border. She advised the Nigerian government to “find ways of isolating the issues and the countries that it has problems with, so that Ghana’s exports can enter Nigeria’s market without being lumped up with all these issues that have emerged”.

But Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed said the decision to close Nigeria’s land borders was not meant to be vindictive. She said that since Nigeria was committed to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), there was need to ensure that rules are obeyed otherwise local industries will be greatly affected. “Businesses have been suffering due to the activities of smugglers but with the more opening up following our commitment to the AfCFTA, this will get worse unless we make sure now that everybody comes back to obey the rules as agreed,” she said.

The minister said: “ The border closure was not permanent adding that there are lots of discussions going on at the technical level and at some point, it will be at the level of Presidents and then real commitments will be made and hopefully, everybody will comply to own side of the agreement”.

Oluwashola1100:
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) counts gains of land border closure to businesses and economy. The closure of land borders is part of Federal Government’s plans to revive local industries and tackle smuggling of rice and other commodities, writes COLLINS NWEZE.

Nigeria’s economy is estimated at $450 billion based on World Bank statistics. The economy could have been larger but for the porosity of its land borders.

For years, goods, especially rice, from neighboring countries come in and out of Nigeria without trace. The practice has led to not only revenue loss and the closure of local industries, but aggravated Nigeria’s security challenges. The biggest contraband route was between Cotonou, Benin’s biggest city, and Lagos.

But all that changed in August 21, when the Federal Government closed all Nigerian land borders to check smuggling and breath life into local industries, especially rice milling and farming, the worst hit segments of the economy.


Nigeria’s immediate neighbours Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon – as well as Ghana and Togo have been hit by the border closure. The exercise brought the bustling borders to a standstill, with goods rotting and queues of lorries waiting at checkpoints in the hope they would be reopened soon. The delay in opening the border has brought some relief to Nigerian businesses.

For instance, the Nigerian rice industry, which for years was almost non-existent as over 80 per cent of rice consumed locally was imported, is gradually regaining its lost glory.

The recovery seed was planted in 2015 when the Federal Government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched rice farming in Kebbi State. That singular exercise triggered upsurge in the number of people across the country going into rice farming.

The country also witnessed more people setting up integrated mills across the country with funding and other support from the CBN but the threat of smuggling crippled these businesses. Whatever efforts were made were dwarfed by smugglers and economic saboteurs who brought contraband products into the country.

The smugglers took advantage of the country’s porous land borders to bring in substandard rice and other products until the land borders were closed.

Aside the closure of the land borders, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele disclosed that the apex bank had blocked accounts of identified smugglers, as well as commenced investigations to ascertain their culpability in what he described as economic sabotage.

Emefiele, who made the disclosure at a consultative roundtable tagged: “Going For Growth” in Lagos, said smugglers and dumpers have been the major saboteurs of the economy.

The move may have kicked off the apex bank’s efforts to make good its threat of going after smugglers, particularly of 43 items that can be produced locally, which it slammed “Not Valid for Foreign Exchange.

He said: “In due course, we would come out with the names of companies that have been identified, as we want to be sure and come out with credible facts that are not deniable.

“We have already blocked accounts of some in the textile, rice and palm oil industries. We are now investigating those accounts, and as information becomes clearer and we see that they committed the offence, we would go to the next round, which is forbidding all banks from banking with them.”We have decided to deal with them, but in our own way. We would use the instrumentality of being the regulator and head of banking system to get the details of these smugglers, investigate their accounts and if culpable, we would not only block the accounts, but close them, including those of their promoters.”

Border closure not new

Nigeria banned the importation of rice from Benin in 2004 and from all its neighbors in 2016, but that has not stopped the trade. Nigeria is only allowing in foreign rice through its ports – where since 2013 it has imposed a tax of 70 per cent. The move is intended not only to raise revenue but also to encourage the local production of rice.

But smugglers have been taking advantage of the fact that it is cheaper to import rice to Nigeria’s neighbors. In 2014, Benin lowered its tariffs on rice imports from 35 per cent to seven per cent while Cameroon erased it completely from 10 per cent.

The economic relationship between Benin and Nigeria , both members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is unequal, with Nigeria exerting much more influence on Benin.

Given Nigeria’s over 200 million population, economy, and natural resource wealth, Benin has adopted a strategy centered on serving as a trading hub, importing goods and re-exporting them legally but most often illegally (through smugglers) to Nigeria, thereby profiting from distortions in Nigeria’s economy until the ongoing border closure commenced.

CBN moves against smugglers

Emefiele said the bank accounts of all identified smugglers would be frozen soon. He expressed satisfaction that the decision to close all land borders had not only created more jobs but also boosted rice and poultry productions in the country.

“You will all recall that we have been embarking on a programme where we are saying if you are involved in the business of smuggling or dumping of rice in the country, we close your account in the banking industry. Although that is coming very effectively,” the CBN governor said.

Continuing, he said: “You will all recall that in November 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, the Central Bank and some state governors went to Kebbi State to launch the Wet Season Rice Farming. Since then, we have seen an astronomical growth in the number of farmers who have been going into rice farming and our paddy production has gone up also quite exponentially.

“Between 2015 and also now, we have also seen an astronomical rise in the number of companies, corporate and individuals that are setting up mills, integrated mills and even small mills in the various areas. And the central bank and the federal ministry of agriculture and rural development have been the centre of not just only encouraging the production of rice in Nigeria but also funding these farmers by given them loans to buy seedlings, fertilizers or some of the herbicides that they need for their rice production”.

Border closure gains by CBN

Emefiele disclosed that before the border closure, Rice Processors Association disclosed that all the rice millers and processors were carrying in their warehouses over 25,000 metric tons of milled rice, which were unsold due to smuggling and dumping of rice through Republic of Benin and other border posts.

Continuing, he said: “We also have members of the Poultry Association of Nigeria who also complained that they have thousands of crates of eggs that they could not sell together with even some of the processed chickens that they could not sell also arising from problem of smuggling and dumping of poultry products into Nigeria.”

“A week after the borders were closed, the same rice millers association called to tell us that all the rice that they had in their warehouses have all been sold. Indeed, a lot of people have been depositing money in their accounts and they have even been telling them ‘please hold on don’t even pay money yet until we finished processing your rice.’

“The Poultry Associations have also come to say that they have sold all their eggs, they have sold all their processed chickens and that demand is rising. So, when you asked, what is the benefit, the benefit of the border closure on the economy of Nigeria, I just used two products – poultry and rice.

Emefiele added that the benefit is that it has helped to create jobs for our people, it has helped to bring our integrated rice milling that we have in the country back into business again and they are making money. Our rural communities are bubbling because there are activities because rice farmers are able to sell their paddy.

“The poultry business is also doing well, and also maize farmers who produce maize from which feeds are produced are also doing business. These are the benefits. “We are not saying that the borders should be closed in perpetuity, but that before the borders be reopened, there must be concrete engagements with countries that are involved in using their ports and countries as landing ports for bringing in goods that are smuggling into Nigeria.’

Also speaking, an entrepreneur, Emeka Eneanya, has commended the Federal Government and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for the decision to partially close the land borders as a way of checking insecurity and massive smuggling activities especially of rice taking place along the border routes.

He said that border closure will promote economic growth.

Speaking to traders during a visit to Onitsha Main Market, Anambra State, Eneanya , said the initiative by the NCS has demonstrated government’s desire to protect agricultural sector and tother investments which have been adversely affected by smuggling.

Ghana plans rice import ban too

Like Nigeria, the Republic of Ghana has put plans in place to ban the importation of rice and poultry in three years’ time.

This information was made public by the Minister of Agriculture for the West African nation, Owusu Afriyie-Akoto.

According to him, Ghana wants to divert its attention into boosting local production and shun heavy reliance on rice and poultry importation, hence the three years’ timeline.

It was pointed out that 82 per cent of the bulk of Ghana’s imports is for rice alone.

This accounts for over $1 billion, a calculation that translates into almost two per cent of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to Ghana Deputy Trades Minister, Robert Ahomka Lindsay.

Ghana Agric Minister wants to combat this importation struggle through a flagship programme known as Planting for Food and Jobs in order to boost local capacity to meet high demand as well as simulate trade between merchants and local farmers.

Afriyie-Akoto said the Planting for Foods and Jobs initiative could be operational in three years and enough to combat rice and poultry importation during that same period. He was confident his ideas would work because the law backs his decisions and he noted that the initiative did not violate World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules neither was it overambitious.

Ghana’s Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said the country’s traders had incurred huge losses because their goods had been detained for weeks at the Nigeria-Benin border. She advised the Nigerian government to “find ways of isolating the issues and the countries that it has problems with, so that Ghana’s exports can enter Nigeria’s market without being lumped up with all these issues that have emerged”.

But Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed said the decision to close Nigeria’s land borders was not meant to be vindictive. She said that since Nigeria was committed to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), there was need to ensure that rules are obeyed otherwise local industries will be greatly affected. “Businesses have been suffering due to the activities of smugglers but with the more opening up following our commitment to the AfCFTA, this will get worse unless we make sure now that everybody comes back to obey the rules as agreed,” she said.

The minister said: “ The border closure was not permanent adding that there are lots of discussions going on at the technical level and at some point, it will be at the level of Presidents and then real commitments will be made and hopefully, everybody will comply to own side of the agreement”.

Treating symptoms can't cure an illness
Border closing is a socialist move ....we are a capitalist economy

If u can't produce rice like Thailand ...concentrate on cassava export it to Thailand use the proceed to buy rice

Or improve your productions

What rice seeds has buhari government developed ?