ABSTRACT
Informal cross-border trade (ICBT) in West Africa is as old as the creation of the countries and is deeply rooted in the region’s cultural history (Golub and Hansen-Lewis 2012; Afrika and Ajumbo 2012). The trade is not accurately recorded, but is nonetheless significant, accounting for a large proportion of GDP in some countries in West Africa, with estimates ranging between 20 and 90 percent (ECA/AU/AfDB 2010). Though having numerous definitions (ECA 2013), ICBT is considered throughout this chapter as trade that passes through unofficial routes and avoids customs controls, as well as exchange that traverses official border crossing points and customs posts but is involved in illegal practices such as under-invoicing, mis-classification and mis-declaration (Lesser and Moisé-Leeman 2009).
