Deputy Minister for the Interior, Terlabi, has called for stronger, intelligence-led and technology-driven border management systems across West Africa to tackle emerging security threats while facilitating legitimate trade and movement.
Addressing participants at the West Africa Border Security Week in Accra, he said the theme, “Intelligent Border Management: Balancing Security, Trade and Mobility in a Digital Age,” goes beyond a conference topic and represents a strategic question for the future of the sub-region.
According to him, the same routes used by legitimate travellers and traders are also exploited by traffickers, smugglers, organised criminal networks and terrorists. He said West African countries must therefore make it easier for legitimate people and goods to cross borders while making it increasingly difficult for criminals to exploit border systems.
The Deputy Minister stressed that the future of border security must be intelligence-led, technology-driven and interoperable, noting that criminal organisations share information, use technology and exploit gaps between security institutions.
“We cannot defeat twenty-first-century criminal networks with fragmented twentieth-century systems,” he said.
Citing Ghana’s progress in modernising its border and migration systems, Mr Terlabi noted that President John Dramani Mahama recently launched Ghana’s new E-Visa platform, which is intended to move visa processing from manual procedures to a technology-driven system while improving service delivery and strengthening security.
He also highlighted Ghana’s participation in regional integration initiatives, noting that the country is among seven ECOWAS member states that have deployed the ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card. He called for greater interoperability among national systems to facilitate real-time information sharing across borders.
The Deputy Minister further argued that security and trade should not be treated as competing objectives, stressing that an insecure border can discourage investment while unpredictable border procedures increase the cost of doing business.
“The principle should be: make legitimate trade faster and make illicit trade harder,” he said.
Mr Terlabi said Ghana’s security is inseparable from the security of its neighbours and urged countries in the region to view borders not simply as lines separating nations, but as intelligent gateways that secure, connect and promote prosperity.
The West Africa Border Security Week brought together Ministers, Heads of Immigration, Customs, Police and other security agencies, as well as ECOWAS representatives and development partners, to discuss a new approach to border management and security in the region.
Story by Freedom Etsey
