AU border program on improving cross-border trade held in Accra

The German Development Cooperation (GIZ) is facilitating an ongoing awareness engagement with the African Union to ensure greater security for citizens and visitors while guaranteeing respect for the rule of law and human rights standards at the various borders of Ghana and West Africa.

The technical awareness workshop which brought together members from Immigration and Police Service, Customs and Health agencies of the four countries and ECOWAS Directorate of Free Movement & Tourism seek to contribute to the development of the long-term capability of Ghana and West Africa’s border control authorities, to update border management information and communication systems and to ensure greater securities at the borders.

The workshop also aims at fostering closer collaboration between Ghana and its neighboring countries to enhance the exchange of data and information between border control authorities, discuss issues related to border management and security in the cross-border areas of Ghana with Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Togo and identify policy solutions for international cooperation in border management, and their means of implementation.

The stakeholders are of the view that such objectives will lay the foundation for growing cross-border and intra-Africa Trade within the West African sub-region.