At the invitation of the Togolese Head of State, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, the Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo paid this Thursday, July 28 a working and friendship visit to Lomé. This meeting was marked by a talk between the two leaders, on bilateral and multilateral issues, as well as a working session.
Lomé and Accra pledged on Thursday to accelerate the free movement of goods and people across their borders.
The two bordering countries have always had excellent relations of brotherhood and cooperation. But the crossing of the border, supposed to be free thanks to the provisions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), always has flaws.
With Togo joining the Commonwealth a month ago, the two nations want to strengthen these relations and improve things.
A working session
Yesterday, a working session also took place between the two statesmen and their delegations.
They “reiterated their common will to further strengthen (the relations between the two countries) in the interest of their respective populations”, indicates a joint press release published in the night.
“The two Heads of State are committed to facilitating the free movement of people and goods between their two countries,” the statement said.
“They welcomed the acceleration of the operationalization process of the juxtaposed checkpoint of Noèpé-Akanu”.
The leaders also reviewed issues related to security and the delimitation of their common border without any further details.
Akufo-Addo and Faure were particularly concerned about the progression of terrorism towards the countries of the Gulf of Guinea, “marked, among other things, by the resurgence of attacks in the northern regions of Togo”.
“The President of Ghana once again offered his condolences to President Gnassingbé, the Togolese people and the families of the victims of the said attacks. He assured him of the support and solidarity of the government and people of Ghana,” the statement read.
The two Heads of State finally called for the strengthening of cooperation between the ECOWAS States and invited the international community to “more solidarity with a view to strengthening the capacities of States in terms of security”.