The Economic Community of West African States has intensified efforts to strengthen cross-border cooperation among member states as part of broader measures aimed at boosting regional trade, improving security coordination, and accelerating economic integration across West Africa.
The Director-General of the National Boundary Commission, Adamu Adaji, represented by the Head of Cross Border Cooperation, Dr Farouk Tarfa, participated in the Annual Regional Stakeholders Meeting on ECOWAS Cross Border Cooperation held in Abuja on Thursday.
The regional meeting, hosted by the ECOWAS Commission, brought together representatives from ECOWAS member states, including Nigeria, Benin, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, to deliberate on strengthening cross-border cooperation and regional integration within the West African sub-region.
Speaking during the plenary session, Tarfa stated that Nigeria was the first country in the sub-region to establish the ECOWAS Cross-Border Cooperation Programme.
He noted that Nigeria adopted the programme because of its strategic importance in addressing border challenges, combating terrorism and other transboundary crimes, while also promoting social cohesion among border communities.
According to him, the programme is designed to leverage the existing homogeneous socio-cultural identities along border communities as building blocks for the ECOWAS integration agenda and to facilitate the transition from a “Community of States” to a “Community of People.”
Tarfa further explained that the programme promotes joint development and utilisation of transboundary resources, pooling of resources for the provision of strategic goods and services, integrated health management approaches for combating transboundary diseases, and information sharing among member states in areas of common interest.
“This programme also provides opportunities for joint security operations capable of guaranteeing peace, security and stability within border areas, thereby facilitating growth and development across the region,” he added.
The meeting also reviewed the implementation process of the ECOWAS Cross-Border Cooperation Programmes in member states and agreed on new joint initiatives aimed at strengthening regional peace, security, and integration.
ECOWAS Heads of State and Government adopted the concept of Cross-Border Cooperation in January 2006 as part of the sub-regional integration mechanisms for the ECOWAS integration process, which subsequently led to the establishment of the ECOWAS Cross-Border Cooperation Programme by ministers in charge of border issues.
