THERE is a clamour down the tiny alleyways of Kano’s central market, in northern Nigeria, as vendors thrust fabrics at passers-by, promising the best colour, quality and price. Amid the racket, Alhaji Zakari sits cross-legged on his countertop, surrounded by materials marked “Made in Côte d’Ivoire”. “They’re not”, he says with a degree of honesty which can do little good for sales. “It’s imitation from China.”
Nigeria is awash with contraband. Chatham House, a British think-tank, reckons that at least 70% of trade between Africa’s biggest economy and its neighbours goes unrecorded. In 2010, the World Bank estimated that $2 billion worth of textiles like Mr Zakari’s are squirrelled into Nigeria every year.
One bootlegger supplying the latter is Adamu Muhammad, or so he gives his name. Like many others in the north, his syndicate brings goods in through Cotonou, Benin’s main port and commercial capital, then through Niger, and across Nigeria’s border. For a decade, convoys of up to 50 of the syndicate’s vehicles have rattled into Kano without obstruction, because bigwigs in the capital were paid to let them pass. A...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/1pK6YtF
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