{"id":4430,"date":"2026-08-26T12:21:58","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T12:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghanaboundarycommission.org\/?p=4430"},"modified":"2026-08-26T12:27:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T12:27:35","slug":"ghana-burkina-faso-and-cote-divoire-begin-week-long-bilateral-engagement-to-adopt-frameworks-to-enhance-cross-border-cooperation-at-the-local-level-24-august-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ghanaboundarycommission.org\/?p=4430","title":{"rendered":"Ghana, Burkina Faso And C\u00f4te D\u2019ivoire Begin Week-Long Bilateral Engagement to Adopt Frameworks to Enhance Cross-Border Cooperation at the Local Level – 24 August 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Ghana is currently holding two separate bilateral meetings with Burkina Faso and C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire in Wa in the Upper West Region. The week-long activity aims to harmonise and validate Legal Texts that will govern the establishment and operationalisation of Local Groups for Cross-Border Cooperation (LGCBCs) between Ghana and each of the other two countries.
The initiative seeks to strengthen cooperation, promote dialogue and facilitate information sharing and joint action among communities and local-level state and non-state actors along the common boundary in the Savannah and Upper West Regions.
Representatives from the relevant institutions and stakeholders from all three participating countries will converge in Wa over the period to discuss the proposed local structures to enhance collaboration within the targeted cross-border communities.<\/p>

Speaking on behalf of the Commissioner General of the Ghana Boundary Commission, Major General Anthony Ntem, at the opening of the first bilateral meeting between Ghana and Burkina Faso, Mr Frederick Somuah Obeng, the Deputy Commissioner General, indicated that the initiative seeks to build robust and sustainable local structures between the targeted cross-border districts and communities of the two countries. He added that the initiative would improve resilience in the target border communities and foster shared socio-economic development along the boundary.

He further emphasised that the proposed cooperation structure will provide a platform for local authorities and security agencies on each side to work together in addressing common challenges and in identifying opportunities for mutual development.

\u201c…the LGCBCs have the potential to become important platforms for identifying common challenges, developing joint solutions, strengthening community resilience, promoting local development and deepening social cohesion among border communities on both sides of our common boundary\u201d, the Deputy Commissioner General stressed.<\/p>


Mr Somuah Obeng further stated that the establishment of the LGCBCs is an important local-level dimension to broader bilateral agreements and Conventions that exist between Ghana and Burkina Faso. As such, stakeholders should see the initiative as avenues for practicalising those signed bilateral agreements at the cross-border community level.<\/p>

\u201cIt is important to emphasise that this process is not taking place in isolation. Rather, it forms part of a broader and steadily advancing framework of cooperation between Ghana and Burkina Faso. The establishment of the Local Groups for Cross-Border Cooperation should therefore be viewed as an important local-level dimension of these broader bilateral frameworks. These Groups should serve as practical avenues for bringing the spirit and objectives of our bilateral cooperation closer to the communities and local authorities that experience the realities of our shared boundary on a daily basis\u201d, he reiterated.<\/p>

He commended Burkina Faso for its continued cooperation and partnership throughout the process, which began in 2024, and appreciated the GIZ and the African Union Border Programme (AUBP) for their continuous technical and financial support to strengthening relations between Ghana and Burkina Faso.<\/p>

The Upper West Regional Minister, who co-chaired the meeting, encouraged participants to actively contribute to the discussions, describing the bilateral validation phase as a critical stage in establishing sustainable cross-border cooperation between the cross-border regions.<\/p>

For his part, the Governor of the Djoro Region, the leader of the Burkina Faso delegation and co-chair of the meeting, Camarade Siaka Baro, expressed appreciation to the Ghana Boundary Commission, the National Boundary Secretariat of Burkina Faso and the political leadership of both countries for their continued commitment to strengthening cooperation and improving the development prospects of communities living along the common boundary.<\/p>

The West Africa Regional Coordinator of the African Union Border Programme Support Project (GIZ\/AUBP), representing the SKBoWa Project, Mr Mamoudou Tapily, said the LGCBCs are concrete and powerful institutional levers that confer legal personality and the capacity for direct action upon neighbouring local authorities.<\/p>

He added that it enables cross-border neighbours to jointly manage what history and geography have brought them into shared possession.<\/p>

He added that the meeting offers the opportunity to harmonise the views of both countries with an overall goal of approving the draft texts intended to govern the LGCBCs.<\/p>

He encouraged the participants to contribute actively since the success of the workshop depends on what he described as their \u201ctechnical rigour, spirit of conciliation and shared vision of cross-border cooperation\u201d<\/p>

The initiative is expected to provide a stronger basis for sustained collaboration between Ghanaian, Burkinabe and Ivorian border communities and contribute to building more resilient, peaceful and prosperous boundary areas.<\/p>


Source: GhBC Corporate Affairs Unit<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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