Ghana, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire move to deepen cross-border cooperation

Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Côte d'Ivoire have commenced a week-long meeting in Wa, aimed at enhancing cooperation among border communities. The discussions center on harmonizing legal frameworks for Local Groups for Cross-Border Cooperation (LGCBCs), which are expected to improve information exchange, dialogue, and joint actions among local authorities, communities, security forces, and other stakeholders dealing with border regions.

Representatives from the three nations have engaged in bilateral talks, including Ghana-Burkina Faso and Ghana-Côte d'Ivoire.

Deputy Commissioner General of the Ghana Boundary Commission, Frederick Somuah Obeng, emphasized that the initiative would create enduring local structures to tackle border community challenges, boost resilience, and foster shared socio-economic development. He highlighted the LGCBCs' potential to serve as platforms for identifying common issues, devising joint solutions, enhancing community resilience, promoting local growth, and strengthening social unity among border communities on both sides of the common boundary.

Obeng stressed that the process is part of broader bilateral agreements between Ghana and Burkina Faso, underlining its significance as a local-level component of these frameworks.

The Upper West Regional Minister, who co-chaired the meeting, urged participants to actively engage in the discussions, describing the validation process as crucial for establishing sustainable cross-border cooperation. Camarade Siaka Baro, the Governor of the Djoro Region and leader of the Burkina Faso delegation, expressed gratitude to the Ghana Boundary Commission and Burkina Faso's National Boundary Secretariat for their ongoing efforts to strengthen cooperation.

Mamoudou Tapily, the West Africa Regional Coordinator of the African Union Border Programme Support Project, referred to the proposed LGCBCs as "concrete and powerful institutional levers" that would empower neighboring local authorities to directly address challenges arising from their shared geography and history. The meetings are set to conclude with the validation of draft legal texts outlining the LGCBCs, with the goal of deepening cooperation among Ghanaian, Burkinabe, and Ivorian border communities, ultimately contributing to more peaceful, resilient, and prosperous border areas.