Deputy Interior Minister calls for intelligent border management to strengthen West African security and trade

The Deputy Minister for the Interior, Mr Ebenezer Okletey Terlabi, has called on West African countries to transform their borders from physical barriers into “intelligent gateways” capable of balancing security, trade and human mobility in the digital age.

Speaking at the West Africa Border Security Week in Accra, Mr Terlabi said the theme, “Intelligent Border Management: Balancing Security, Trade and Mobility in a Digital Age,” should be viewed as a strategic imperative for the future of the region rather than merely a conference theme.

He said the growing sophistication of transnational criminal networks required countries to adopt smarter and more coordinated approaches to border management.

“The same routes used by legitimate travellers and traders may also be exploited by traffickers, smugglers, organised criminal networks and terrorists,” he stated.

Mr Terlabi stressed that border authorities must facilitate the movement of legitimate people and goods while making it increasingly difficult for criminals to exploit border systems.

“That is the essence of intelligent border management,” he added.

The Deputy Minister said the future of border security must be intelligence-led, technology-driven and interoperable, stressing that criminal organisations do not respect national boundaries.

He noted that criminal networks increasingly share information, deploy technology, and exploit gaps between institutions, making cooperation and information sharing essential to an effective regional security response.

“Our response must therefore be equally sophisticated. We cannot defeat twenty-first-century criminal networks with fragmented twentieth-century systems,” Mr Terlabi said.

He cited Ghana’s recent progress in digitising border and immigration services, including the launch by President John Dramani Mahama of the country’s new E-Visa platform.

According to him, the platform is intended to move visa processing away from manual procedures towards a technology-driven system that improves service delivery while strengthening security.

Mr Terlabi also highlighted Ghana’s contribution to regional integration, 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 and strengthen the ability of countries to identify and respond to emerging security threats.

He advocated a border-management approach based on the principle of making legitimate trade faster while making illicit trade more difficult.

Mr Terlabi said Ghana’s national security and economic prospects were closely linked to the security and prosperity of neighbouring countries, underscoring the importance of regional cooperation.

He urged West African countries to move beyond viewing borders simply as lines separating states and instead develop them as intelligent gateways that enhance security, connectivity and economic prosperity.