Ghana and Burkina Faso are set to strengthen their bilateral cooperation with a high-level meeting aimed at validating framework agreements and memoranda of understanding for their shared international land boundary. 

The three-day meeting, hosted by the Ghana Boundary Commission (GhBC), commenced in Accra yesterday  brought together key stakeholders from both countries reviewed and finalised key legal instruments necessary for joint boundary management.

Addressing the meeting, the Commissioner-General of the GhBC, Brigadier General Anthony Ntem, emphasised the need for cooperation and mutual trust in strengthening the border between Ghana and Burkina Faso.

He noted that validating legal texts for joint border management would enhance effective cross-border cooperation.

Brigadier General Ntem described the borders between Ghana and Burkina Faso as "bridges" that connected communities, stimulated trade and promoted security. 

Relationship

The Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Yusif Sulemana, indicated that the relationship between the two nations was built upon centuries of shared history, fraternity and mutual respect.

He emphasised that the over 583 kilometres of border was not a line of separation, but “remain spaces of interaction, where communities have lived, traded and cooperated in peace for generations”.

Mr Sulemana said the meeting represented an affirmation of the shared commitment to transforming that common space into a true frontier of cooperation, stability and prosperity.

He commended the technical and financial support provided by GIZ and reaffirmed Ghana's commitment to working closely with Burkina Faso in the spirit of partnership and solidarity. 

Shared challenges

For her part, the Governor of the Nazinon Region in Burkina Faso, Yvette Nacoula Sanou Massadalo, reminded participants that the two countries shared multiple and multifaceted challenges at the level of the common border and trans-frontal spaces.

The issue, she said, required adequate legal responses that would govern the operationalisation of trans-frontal cooperation between the various official actors in the boundary areas.

“Our main mission is to provide, at the end of this historic meeting, a relevant, adapted and pragmatic legal framework that will be able to translate our concerted decisions into concrete and tangible action on the ground,” she said.

Also speaking at the event, the GIZ-AUBP West Africa Regional Coordinator, Mamoudou Tapily, emphasised that the project was to contribute to the structural prevention of conflicts and to improve the conditions of human security in terms of governance, social cohesion and economic development of border areas.

“Cross-border cooperation is no longer a mere necessity. It is an essential strategy to face common challenges such as insecurity, climate change and economic underdevelopment. This meeting aims to provide us with the tools to achieve this,” he added.