On Wednesday August 29, representatives from the governments of the United States of America, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, and Togo participated in a regional border security strategic partners seminar held at the West African Regional Training Center (RTC) in Accra, which is operated by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).
The program advanced multilateral cooperation in border security and strategic objectives in partnership with other African nations.
The participating nations share a commitment to strengthening border security, regional cooperation, intelligence sharing, and organizational efficiency to combat cross-border crime, drug smuggling, transnational criminal organizations, and human trafficking, among other threats.
Ghana National Security Coordinator, Joshua Kyeremeh, delivered the keynote address to open the event. U.S. Chargé d’Affaires, Christopher J. Lamora, also delivered opening remarks, underscoring the United States’ commitment to the collective security of our African partners.
The program was organized under the auspices of the Government of Ghana’s National Border Security Technical Working Group, in partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection as part of the U.S.-Ghana Security Governance Initiative (SGI).
SGI is a partnership between the Government of Ghana and the United States aimed at improving the effectiveness of Ghana’s security sector. The United States also has SGI partnerships with Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Tunisia, two of which participated in the Border Security Seminar.
Under SGI, in 2016 Ghana and the United States signed a Joint Country Action Plan (JCAP), which identified three priority areas of the partnership: Maritime Security, Border Security, and Cyber Security.
A fourth cross-cutting theme, Administration of Justice, provides holistic coverage on the range of issues that impact these sectors.
