West Africa's border chiefs: a boundary is not only a line

Banjul — The officials responsible for West Africa's borders have agreed to work more closely on marking them and on developing the communities that live along them, the Economic Community of West African States has said.

The heads of national boundary commissions held their third meeting in The Gambia from 6 to 8 October, with representatives of the regional commission, the African Union and partners including Germany's development agency.

Two aims that pull together

The meeting comes as the regional bloc puts more weight on free movement within the community. Albert Siaw-Boateng, its director for free movement and migration, said that easier mobility has to go hand in hand with effective management of borders.

The chair, Major General Cheikhou Camara of Senegal, argued for a broader idea of what a border is. Borders, he said, should not be seen only as lines separating states, but as places of exchange, development, shared security and integration. Boundary commissions, in his view, have duties beyond surveying: cross-border cooperation, local development and coordination among those involved.

What they worked on

• the recommendations of their previous meeting, in Cotonou in August 2025, and what remains to be done;
• national, bilateral and regional border programmes, including the bloc's Cross-Border Support Programme for 2023 to 2027, and how to make them fit together;
• how to speed up the delimitation, demarcation and reaffirmation of boundaries, by sharing technical experience and helping one another;
• development plans for border areas, including their legal and financial basis and the part played by border communities.

Participants described effective border governance as a basis for peaceful coexistence, security, local development and deeper integration.

The chair of The Gambia's boundary commission, Alieu Njie, noted that the forum has met regularly since it was set up in 2024.

Source: ECOWAS, 12 October 2026.