- Advertisement -The West African Tax Administration Forum (WATAF) has called for stronger regional cooperation and harmonised excise duty policies as ECOWAS member states review the bloc’s directive on tobacco taxation. WATAF Executive Secretary, Jules Tapsoba, said tobacco taxation can serve both as a revenue-generation mechanism and a public health intervention. The ECOWAS Commission estimates that the proposed measures could increase regional tobacco tax revenues by 300% compared with the 2024 baseline. In July 2023, the organization joined a regional meeting on tobacco taxation and illicit trade involving ECOWAS member states in Accra, Ghana. In 2025, WATAF also contributed to the validation of a tobacco excise tax simulation study in Abuja, Nigeria, where it highlighted the need for tobacco tax policies to reflect the realities of cross-border trade in West Africa.