Accra – On 29-30 March, IOM Ghana in collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior, hosted a regional border management workshop which brought together eight countries in the Gulf of Guinea and Sahel regions. The workshop, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, provided a platform for Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Togo and their neighbours in the Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria) to share experiences and develop recommendations to improve border management and border security in the region.

West African countries face common perennial challenges in managing their borders, including, for example, inadequate infrastructure and equipment; management of numerous irregular border crossing points; migration data management and the existence of cross border trafficking and smuggling networks. This situation is further exacerbated by contemporary challenges, such as the emergence of violent extremism.

Delivering the opening remarks on behalf of the Minister for the Interior in Ghana at the workshop, Mrs Adelaide Anno-Kumi, Chief Director at the Ministry said, “Facilitating the integration process and sustainable development on the continent, border management is situated within a border governance approach which includes norms, institutions, and collaboration between states, society, and civil society to ensure border security. We at the Ministry are happy to be hosting this workshop here in Ghana to foster regional and cross border cooperation, including improving information management and data sharing.”

IOM, in consultation with the littoral Gulf of Guinea countries, and guided by regional and global frameworks, including the African Union Strategy, has agreed on five strategic areas of engagement, including cross-border cooperation to reinforce efforts of governments in strengthening border management in the littoral Gulf of Guinea countries.

The Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Finance and Administration, Isaac Owusu-Mensah, delivering his welcome remarks emphasized that “the Ghana Immigration Service recognizes the importance of strengthening border security and border community resilience in promoting peace, security and stability in the Gulf of Guinea and the Sahel Regions.” He further stressed that “the littoral Gulf of Guinea countries, the Sahel regions and Africa as a whole need to consider increasing international linkages along our common border borders. Collaborating with international neighbours makes sense for innovation-driven growth and security.”

As highlighted in the African Union Strategy for a Better Integrated Border Governance (2020), border management is an integral component for not only promoting peace, security, and stability but also for facilitating the integration process and sustainable development on the continent.

Nnamdi Iwuora, Senior Programme Manager, IOM Ghana, said “the objective of this regional workshop is to bring the Gulf of Guinea countries together with their neighbours from the Sahel region to discuss common challenges and showcase their national interventions designed to respond to these challenges. It is also to provide support to collectively develop recommendations to improve border security and cross-border coordination and cooperation”.

The workshop was attended by senior government officials from immigration and border management agencies in the eight countries and their IOM counterparts.

***

For more information, please contact Daniel Tagoe, National Project Officer, Immigration and Border Management (IBM), IOM Ghana, at dtagoe@iom.int or +233 30 274 2408