US-Africa partners update strategies on regional border security  

Representatives from the governments of the United States of America, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, and Togo have participated in a regional border security strategic partners seminar, in Accra.

The seminar, which was held, on Wednesday, took place at the West African Regional Training Center (RTC) , which is operated by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).

A statement issued by the Public Affairs Department of the US Embassy in Accra, said the programme 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 organisational efficiency to combat cross-border crime, drug smuggling, transnational criminal organisations, and human trafficking, among other threats,” it said.

Ghana’s National Security Coordinator, Mr Joshua Kyeremeh, delivered the keynote address to open the event, while  US’ Chargé d’Affaires, Christopher J. Lamora, also delivered opening remarks, underscoring the United States’ commitment to the collective security of our African partners, the statement said..

The programme was organised 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, the statement said.

A fourth cross-cutting theme, Administration of Justice, provides holistic coverage on the range of issues that impact these sectors.

Source: GNA