To protect the local supply to its internal market, the military authorities in the Republic of Niger have banned rice, cereal and other food exports to all countries. The food security measures exempts Burkina Faso and Mali, its fellow junta-led government.
Recall the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) lifted its bloc on July 2023 after the February 2023 coup. The effect of the bloc on the Junta countries had spiked the cost of food item including rice, cereals amongst it get grain commodities among neighbouring ECOWAS states.
In a statement on Wednesday, the The National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, head of the junta in Niger, Abdourahamane Tiani said it would curtail inflation and create an accessible market for citizens.
The Junta chief said the products ban on export includes legumes such as cowpeas, millet, sorghum and corn. Agence France-Presses, a news agency, quoted the junta leader as saying, “To protect the supply of the internal market, make the goods of mass consumption accessible.
“These prohibitions do not apply to exports to Mali and Burkina Faso.”
The report said sanctions to defaulters would incur the seizure of shipments to criminal penalties.
Torrential downpours in Niger since the start of the rainy season have triggered floods that have displaced one and a half million people and killed 339, according to figures by the civil protection agency.
This week, the authorities in Niamey announced that it would slash the price of cement by 35 per cent to help those affected by the floods to rebuild their homes.