Ghana and Burkina Faso have reinforced their partnership with the signing of seven agreements aimed at boosting cooperation across transport, trade, security, and other key sectors.
The accords were formalized after discussions between Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, and two top Burkinabe officials: Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré and Prime Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo.
Signed last Friday at the close of Ablakwa’s two-day official visit, the agreements cover a wide spectrum of collaboration. They include mutual recognition of national driver’s licenses, transport and road transit arrangements, cross-border cooperation, and measures to combat illicit drug cultivation, production, and trafficking.
Other agreements establish frameworks for periodic consultations between border administrative authorities, create a joint commission to reaffirm the shared border, and outline protocols for disaster prevention and humanitarian crisis management.
The signing coincided with the reactivation of the Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC), which had been dormant between the two countries for six years.
Mr Ablakwa emphasized the broader impact of the agreements on regional integration. “This agreement will boost intra-African trade because as you know, we do not trade very well among ourselves as Africans. According to UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development), intra-African trade is less than 20 per cent. That is why Ghana hosts the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area secretariat, and we want to lead by example. With this agreement, we are demonstrating that we have what it takes as Africans to remove the bottlenecks and impediments in our way towards free movement, free trade, and enhanced economic cooperation,” he said.
He added that the agreements would also improve security, streamline movement between the countries, and support efforts to combat illicit drug trafficking and manage disasters.
“We want to assure all of you that these agreements are not going to be decorative pieces. We have discussed strategies for immediate implementation, and we are going to make sure that they are implemented with all the force that we can muster, all the competences, and all the commitment that we can demonstrate,” Ablakwa said.
The Foreign Affairs Minister also addressed recent terror attacks in Titao that claimed Ghanaian lives. He extended condolences to the affected families and highlighted that the adoption of a new security framework would strengthen regional counterterrorism efforts.
A special conference is scheduled for March 4 in Accra to bring together security experts and special envoys to devise strategies against terrorism and violent extremism, Graphic Online reported.
“We have invited the Prime Minister and the President, Captain Ibrahim Traore, as a special guest, so that they can come and share ideas, give direction, offer their vision, together with President Mahama, so that we can work together to neutralise the threat,” Ablakwa explained.
