By Hannah Dadzie
West African leaders have agreed on a far-reaching framework to strengthen regional security cooperation, as a High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security ended in Accra with a strong call to move from dialogue to action.
The two-day meeting, held from January 29 to 30, 2026, brought together Heads of State and Government of Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, alongside representatives from Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo. The conference was chaired by President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, with Presidents Joseph Boakai of Liberia and Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone leading their respective delegations.
Reading the final joint communiqué at the closing session, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said the leaders acknowledged that West Africa has become the global epicentre of terrorism and violent extremism, recording at least eight attacks daily and accounting for more than half of terrorism-related deaths worldwide.
The communiqué stressed that the region’s interconnected geography, shared trade routes and cross-border communities make coordinated responses unavoidable, warning that continued fragmentation carries heavy economic, social and security costs.
To address these threats, participants agreed to establish a structured and permanent framework for regional cooperation, moving beyond ad hoc diplomacy and limited operational coordination. The framework will focus on shared programmes, standards and infrastructure priorities, while deepening collaboration among states central to counterterrorism efforts.
On security and counterterrorism, the conference resolved to strengthen intelligence and information sharing, harmonise legal frameworks for cross-border prosecution of terrorism-related offences, and scale up de-radicalisation programmes, while safeguarding human rights. Leaders also committed to intensifying efforts against transnational organised crime, including arms, narcotics and human trafficking.
In a significant move on border security, the meeting agreed to consider “hot pursuit” arrangements through bilateral or multilateral agreements to combat the fluid movement of extremist and criminal networks. The Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Ablakwa, has been tasked to lead the process of drafting a foundational Memorandum of Understanding within three months, with a view to final adoption within six months.
Beyond military measures, the communiqué emphasised a shift towards a human security approach, prioritising food security, healthcare, education, job creation and inclusive governance. Leaders also pledged to strengthen local governance to ensure state presence is felt through service delivery, not only security enforcement.
Recognising climate change as a threat multiplier, the conference agreed to integrate climate and food security into regional peace planning and to develop a collective disaster preparedness and humanitarian response framework for displaced populations.
As part of next steps, the leaders endorsed the consultative conference as a biannual platform and agreed to establish a monitoring mechanism to track implementation of agreed outcomes.
The meeting ended with a renewed sense of regional solidarity and a firm commitment to translate the decisions into measurable actions that protect lives, livelihoods and stability across West Africa.
The communiqué was formally issued in Accra on January 30, 2026, on the authority of the participating Heads of State and representatives.
